Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from, the X-Men movie-
verse. Duncan and Hana belong to Corrinth, as does Ilehana Xavier should
she be mentioned. Star owns Golan, should he be mentioned too. All other
OCs belong to me, especially Blaze and Jessie.
A/N: Post X2 spoilers, and spoilers for Corrinth's Guardians of Destiny, which incidentally is excellent so go read it! Reviews always appreciated.
Scene 19
The Prices left the hospital with Dr McMahon. Jessica could not be persuaded to try and control her powers; only the darkness of the night seemed to ease her stress as the amount of light energy hitting her decreased. Lila shepherded her daughter along from behind, but resisted the temptation to touch the child and get a shock of raw power for her trouble. Mark kept a worried eye on the surroundings as they crossed the parking lot, expecting one of those mutant-teachers to jump out from behind every car. Dr McMahon zapped the remote on his estate, unlocking the car doors and triggering the engine to start as they approached.
He took them to a large, almost derelict building on the far side of town, A monument to the nineteen eighties, the concrete and glass monstrosity looked barely habitable. None the less, Dr McMahon's key turned easily in the door lock and the front door swung open. Inside was nearly as creepy as the outside, lit with orange light bulbs in positions that left most of the place in dank shadow. Wallpaper peeled off the walls, motif faded to indistinguishable smudges. Ominous stains on the grossly patterned carpet could have been anything from spilled wine to tomato ketchup to much worse things. But it was the layout of the building that was most bizarre.
From the large entranceway, the arched ceiling closed in again around them as they walked forward, becoming claustrophobic. Alley-like corridors span off in different directions periodically, and doors painted in thick black emulsion were often padlocked on the outside. Then the ceiling opened up again and the walls drifted away in a wide curve as the family reached what was best described as an open-plan living space. A stairway descended from nowhere down the centre of the room, and more seedy corridors ran away in the corners. Great glass sheets dull with grime ran in filthy waterfalls down the far wall, enclosing sliding glass doors that again were padlocked. Random furniture rotted where it had fallen in battle, apparently savaged by some monstrous beast in a ferocious attack.
Dr McMahon did not seem the slightest bit ashamed of his bizarre home, and the Prices were too well mannered to express disgust that an educated man could allow his home to descend into such a state. Both adults systematically accredited the state of the building to a busy man with no family and few friends, whilst Jessie was left feeling an uneasy but unsurprised awe at her arch-enemy's hideout. Dr McMahon left them with vague excuses of finding food, disappearing down a corridor without a backwards glance.
Leaving her parent's arguing in over-the-top whispers, Jessie set off to explore. It would be hours before they even realised she was gone in this clammy gloom. What would the X-Men do if they were stuck somewhere like this? Jessie sighed, missing Xavier's school with a longing, missing feeling safe and wanted. A noise behind a padlocked door startled her, a sigh that echoed her own. She put her ear to the door and listened, was there somebody there?
"Hello?" She asked softly, and was rewarded with a soft snuffling sound behind the door. Dr McMahon had a dog? He didn't seem a doggy type of person. And this was cruel anyway, keeping a dog locked up in what looked like a cellar. Jessie reached out and picked up the padlock as it swung from the door in her black hand. If only she could bust it open......... As if answering her call her power skidded into overdrive. A bolt of purest blackness that made the rest of the corridor seem grey in comparison leapt from her fingers, crushing the padlock to dust with ferocious energy. Behind the door the dog screamed in fright, an eerie wailing noise that Jessie hastily tried to calm with words. At the same time she plucked at the stiff lock, tugging the heavy bolt backwards and forwards with her whole weight until finally the door swung open shoved from within. The force of it opening knocked Jessie down as she screamed. Her parents came running then, calling her name.
It was no dog that came loping from behind the door. Perhaps, once, he had been a man. He was huge, ageless, a monstrosity of mutation at its most extreme. Dressed only in a loincloth, with long arms dangling aimlessly as though rarely used, his legs were short and stocky. And from his shoulders and his sides, four groping tendrils reached out towards Jessica as she screamed. Lila screamed then too, distracting the monster long enough for Jessie to regain her senses and crawl back to her parents. In a fit of horror they turned their backs on the creature and unashamedly ran.
There was a crunch ahead of them, and glass shattered in ice-like shards across the carpet in the large room. Wind billowed in, chased by delicate snowflakes. And then the X-Men stood there, shoulder-to-shoulder and clad in black. The Prices stopped, but Jessie didn't. She ran towards her friends and teachers, shimmering power fading around the edges, as she knew now everything would be all right. Her faith was the only thing that saved her.
The creature appeared, a great, blue-tinted fiend with greenish plates of bone across brow, chest and arms. Vacant distended red eyes scanned the room even as the tendrils growing from his neck convulsed in unison. A ripple of gross muscle and two torpedo-shaped green pods shot from the ends of the tendrils, embedding themselves in the back of Mark and Lila's necks. Shimmering threads connected the humans to him, pulsing in the dim light as though he sucked them dry. Both of them fell forward even as Blaze threw frantic fireballs to drive the mutant away. A dim-witted scream filled the air as Blaze's fireballs hit home and the mutant pulled back, severing his contact with Jessie's adopted parents. He disappeared into the dark corridor.
"Mommy!" Jessie screamed, charging back to her adoptive parents' sides before Gambit could grab her. Unbidden Iceman, Rogue and Wolverine started down the corridor that the monster had escaped down. Storm, a proven nurse, Blaze and Gambit went to help the Prices.
"It's not looking good." Storm mouthed to her team-mates as she lifted Mark's head to put gloved fingers to the.........the thing that was now pulsing and growing, oozing puss in the back of the human's neck. "I think he was feeding off of them........." Blaze and Gambit didn't reply, looks of absolute horror on their faces as they watched Jessie try and comfort the people who had raised her all her life.
"It'll be okay, Mom........." She stuttered. "You'll be fine, it's just a bit of a bee sting. Dad, listen........."
"No, Jess." Her adoptive father whispered bravely. "You listen to me." A wave of desperate pain shuddered through him before he could continue. Why couldn't he see? His eyes, his nerves were on fire. Bile rose in his throat and he could barely find the energy to breath. Besides him his wife shuddered involuntarily, too exhausted all of a sudden to even fight the monster's paralysing venom. "We'll always love you, Jess. We'll always........."
It was too late. He shuddered one more time, breath wracked from his body as the same happened to his wife. They died together. Jessica sat by them, holding their hands in hers, refusing to move. Shock was not a strong enough word for what she felt, and the X-Men let her be.
A/N: Post X2 spoilers, and spoilers for Corrinth's Guardians of Destiny, which incidentally is excellent so go read it! Reviews always appreciated.
Scene 19
The Prices left the hospital with Dr McMahon. Jessica could not be persuaded to try and control her powers; only the darkness of the night seemed to ease her stress as the amount of light energy hitting her decreased. Lila shepherded her daughter along from behind, but resisted the temptation to touch the child and get a shock of raw power for her trouble. Mark kept a worried eye on the surroundings as they crossed the parking lot, expecting one of those mutant-teachers to jump out from behind every car. Dr McMahon zapped the remote on his estate, unlocking the car doors and triggering the engine to start as they approached.
He took them to a large, almost derelict building on the far side of town, A monument to the nineteen eighties, the concrete and glass monstrosity looked barely habitable. None the less, Dr McMahon's key turned easily in the door lock and the front door swung open. Inside was nearly as creepy as the outside, lit with orange light bulbs in positions that left most of the place in dank shadow. Wallpaper peeled off the walls, motif faded to indistinguishable smudges. Ominous stains on the grossly patterned carpet could have been anything from spilled wine to tomato ketchup to much worse things. But it was the layout of the building that was most bizarre.
From the large entranceway, the arched ceiling closed in again around them as they walked forward, becoming claustrophobic. Alley-like corridors span off in different directions periodically, and doors painted in thick black emulsion were often padlocked on the outside. Then the ceiling opened up again and the walls drifted away in a wide curve as the family reached what was best described as an open-plan living space. A stairway descended from nowhere down the centre of the room, and more seedy corridors ran away in the corners. Great glass sheets dull with grime ran in filthy waterfalls down the far wall, enclosing sliding glass doors that again were padlocked. Random furniture rotted where it had fallen in battle, apparently savaged by some monstrous beast in a ferocious attack.
Dr McMahon did not seem the slightest bit ashamed of his bizarre home, and the Prices were too well mannered to express disgust that an educated man could allow his home to descend into such a state. Both adults systematically accredited the state of the building to a busy man with no family and few friends, whilst Jessie was left feeling an uneasy but unsurprised awe at her arch-enemy's hideout. Dr McMahon left them with vague excuses of finding food, disappearing down a corridor without a backwards glance.
Leaving her parent's arguing in over-the-top whispers, Jessie set off to explore. It would be hours before they even realised she was gone in this clammy gloom. What would the X-Men do if they were stuck somewhere like this? Jessie sighed, missing Xavier's school with a longing, missing feeling safe and wanted. A noise behind a padlocked door startled her, a sigh that echoed her own. She put her ear to the door and listened, was there somebody there?
"Hello?" She asked softly, and was rewarded with a soft snuffling sound behind the door. Dr McMahon had a dog? He didn't seem a doggy type of person. And this was cruel anyway, keeping a dog locked up in what looked like a cellar. Jessie reached out and picked up the padlock as it swung from the door in her black hand. If only she could bust it open......... As if answering her call her power skidded into overdrive. A bolt of purest blackness that made the rest of the corridor seem grey in comparison leapt from her fingers, crushing the padlock to dust with ferocious energy. Behind the door the dog screamed in fright, an eerie wailing noise that Jessie hastily tried to calm with words. At the same time she plucked at the stiff lock, tugging the heavy bolt backwards and forwards with her whole weight until finally the door swung open shoved from within. The force of it opening knocked Jessie down as she screamed. Her parents came running then, calling her name.
It was no dog that came loping from behind the door. Perhaps, once, he had been a man. He was huge, ageless, a monstrosity of mutation at its most extreme. Dressed only in a loincloth, with long arms dangling aimlessly as though rarely used, his legs were short and stocky. And from his shoulders and his sides, four groping tendrils reached out towards Jessica as she screamed. Lila screamed then too, distracting the monster long enough for Jessie to regain her senses and crawl back to her parents. In a fit of horror they turned their backs on the creature and unashamedly ran.
There was a crunch ahead of them, and glass shattered in ice-like shards across the carpet in the large room. Wind billowed in, chased by delicate snowflakes. And then the X-Men stood there, shoulder-to-shoulder and clad in black. The Prices stopped, but Jessie didn't. She ran towards her friends and teachers, shimmering power fading around the edges, as she knew now everything would be all right. Her faith was the only thing that saved her.
The creature appeared, a great, blue-tinted fiend with greenish plates of bone across brow, chest and arms. Vacant distended red eyes scanned the room even as the tendrils growing from his neck convulsed in unison. A ripple of gross muscle and two torpedo-shaped green pods shot from the ends of the tendrils, embedding themselves in the back of Mark and Lila's necks. Shimmering threads connected the humans to him, pulsing in the dim light as though he sucked them dry. Both of them fell forward even as Blaze threw frantic fireballs to drive the mutant away. A dim-witted scream filled the air as Blaze's fireballs hit home and the mutant pulled back, severing his contact with Jessie's adopted parents. He disappeared into the dark corridor.
"Mommy!" Jessie screamed, charging back to her adoptive parents' sides before Gambit could grab her. Unbidden Iceman, Rogue and Wolverine started down the corridor that the monster had escaped down. Storm, a proven nurse, Blaze and Gambit went to help the Prices.
"It's not looking good." Storm mouthed to her team-mates as she lifted Mark's head to put gloved fingers to the.........the thing that was now pulsing and growing, oozing puss in the back of the human's neck. "I think he was feeding off of them........." Blaze and Gambit didn't reply, looks of absolute horror on their faces as they watched Jessie try and comfort the people who had raised her all her life.
"It'll be okay, Mom........." She stuttered. "You'll be fine, it's just a bit of a bee sting. Dad, listen........."
"No, Jess." Her adoptive father whispered bravely. "You listen to me." A wave of desperate pain shuddered through him before he could continue. Why couldn't he see? His eyes, his nerves were on fire. Bile rose in his throat and he could barely find the energy to breath. Besides him his wife shuddered involuntarily, too exhausted all of a sudden to even fight the monster's paralysing venom. "We'll always love you, Jess. We'll always........."
It was too late. He shuddered one more time, breath wracked from his body as the same happened to his wife. They died together. Jessica sat by them, holding their hands in hers, refusing to move. Shock was not a strong enough word for what she felt, and the X-Men let her be.