3. Escape
Ktelor woke up in a room that looked like a laboratory. She was inside a cage on a table and she could not think clearly. Everything seemed blurry and she was tired, very tired. She did not even have her own clothes on anymore, but some sort of underpants instead and no other clothes.
She leaned on one wall of the cage, trying to get her thoughts in order. Soon she heard somebody enter, but it was unclear and Ktelor could not focus on anything. It sounded like the cage door had been opened. Ktelor moved in attempt to get out, but someone grabbed her chin and held her still. Ktelor's thoughts became clearer.
Ktelor snatched the hand that held her chin but did not have strength to move it. She looked up at the hand's owner. It was the White Queen. She intended to break into Ktelor's mind but Ktelor had too powerful psychic defenses for her to do anything.
"You're a tough one, aren't you, Ktelor Gilian!" Ktelor looked at the woman, slightly afraid.
"How... do y' know... my name?"
"Oh, Ktelor dear, I know a lot more about you than your name! But there is no need for you to know anything about it. The only thing I want to know is the location of young Kitty Pryde."
"...Who?" Ktelor barely remembered that she had gone to a food place with some girl, and just after that remembered that girl had been Kitty.
"Don't play with me, kid!"
"How the hell should I know where she is, huh? Now is it even possible?"
"Oh yes, it is."
"I don't think so, no."
"Well, take a look at this then." The White Queen grappled Ktelor's hair and turned her head toward another laboratory table. Xavier was on it, asleep. "Do you see those electrodes on his head? They keep him asleep. If we tune them a bit more, he'll be in a coma. And a little more and his brain will stop functioning. Want me to readjust it?"
"Oh, you could kill him? Please do... He's been nothing but trouble, y'know. Plus, if he dies, I'll most likely inherit his nice mansion, now wouldn't I? Uhh..." The White Queen let go of Ktelor's hair and Ktelor's head dropped a little before Ktelor could react.
"Hm... And what good would that do to you if you spent your whole life in that cage?" Sitting up, Ktelor laughed shortly.
"Don't worry, you piece of warm meat, I'll find a way out of here in a month at maximum, won't I?" Ktelor smiled and turned away, crossing her arms on her chest.
"Don't play arrogant, kid! We are the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, and you won't be escaping that cage before we decide to let you out. Xavier has again come to make my quest here difficult. Always when I find a new good student for my Academy, he is there to take them first! So we decided to just get him out of the way. You would be a moderate student for the Academy yourself. Why wouldn't you come to my school and meet some new people, instead of gathering mold at Xavier's pitiful mansion?"
"I like gathering mold an' hate people. They've always just made my life difficult."
"These people will not bother you. They're intelligent like you, some are mutants too. You'll be accepted and respected."
"Somehow I doubt that. But what the heck is the Hellfire Club? You probably all burn in hell for joining the club, eh? In their different levels or circles or whatever they are?"
"See, there are gaps in your education that Xavier cannot give. The Hellfire Club is a club for the rich. The Inner Circle is formed completely of mutants, though the normal members don't know it, of course. However, the Inner Circle is incomplete at the moment. I am the White Queen, Sebastian Shaw is the Black King, Leland
The White Queen banged the door of the cage shut and Ktelor's thoughts became unclear once again. She flounced outside, leaving Ktelor and Xavier alone in the room. Ktelor lost her consciousness for a while.
Ktelor woke up when she felt someone touching her back. Ktelor startled and looked at the one who had touched her. It was Kitty. Ktelor's thoughts still were not clear.
"Kitty! What... how'd ye...?"
"I... I... couldn't just let them take you away like that... I... there's no time! How do I get you out of that cage?"
"I... don't know..." Kitty moved rather hesitantly, still holding her hand on Ktelor's back.
"Would... would it help if I did this?" Due to Ktelor's blurry and unclear thoughts and sense perceptions, she could not see what Kitty exactly did. What was more important was that the door of the cage had opened.
Kitty had used her mutant abilities. She did not yet know what exactly they did, but in practice, she could move her atoms and molecules through other atoms and molecules, that is, she could walk through walls. What her powers also did was that they made electrical devices malfunction, as in this case, the door of the cage in which Ktelor was.
Ktelor's thoughts instantly became a little clearer. Kitty moved over to the door and started helping Ktelor out of the cage. Ktelor dropped on the floor and Kitty managed to soften her landing a little. Ktelor's thoughts became almost as clear as they usually were, though she felt rather tired.
"Ktelor... Ktelor, are you okay?" asked Kitty. She held Ktelor's head with her other hand and touched her shoulder lightly with the other.
"Um... Yeh. I think so." Ktelor glanced at Kitty's eyes, but at the same moment, one door in the room opened to reveal several guards of some sort. Ktelor stood up instantly and telepathically struck the first two soldiers down in no time. She jumped at the other two, her legs straight at them, kicked them and jumped up from their chest, landing on the wall. She took speed off the walls and knocked the two down with her elbows. Ktelor managed to telepathically force them unconscious also.
At the same time, a few more people had appeared from the other door. There were two men in Victorian clothing, a big fat one with red hair and a red suit and a big muscular one with dark hair, and two grunts like the four others. Ktelor very quickly swept through their minds, finding out that the two men in Victorian clothing were mutants, the other one with the ability to turn any kinetic energy directed at him to strength and the other one with the ability to alter an object's gravity. It did not take long for Ktelor to penetrate the fat man's psychic protections, and instantly she used his powers to increase the effect of gravity on the other three men.
"Leland!" the other man shouted. He then looked at Ktelor. The other two men lost their consciousness and Ktelor had the fat man's, Leland's, powers concentrate on the dark-haired man. The faster Ktelor had Leland increase the gravity on the other man, the faster his strength multiplied.
"Kitty!" Ktelor managed to cry out. "Free Xavier! Take off those electrodes an' wake him up!" Kitty was almost too scared to move, but as soon as she was able to move herself, Xavier woke up. He instantly struck the dark-haired man unconscious. Ktelor felt a sharp pain on her right shoulder and fell onto the floor. The White Queen had entered the room and was now fighting mentally with Xavier. Neither of them could do anything. Kitty was attacked by a grunt.
Ktelor received several strikes and hits on her back before she could turn around. Her head hurt and she was hit a few times on her chest before she could react. She slammed both of her fists on both sides of the grunt's head. Ktelor forced the grunt unconscious.
Kitty used her powers and phased every time the grunt tried to hit her, materializing always after it so she could breathe. The grunt was rather confused and did not know what to do, but managed to hit Kitty a little occasionally.
Ktelor suddenly almost lost control of her telepathy. She was extremely tired, confused and afraid and had no idea why. She ran behind a corner and tried to get her mind in order. She breathed heavily and fast, partly shaking because of the sudden fear. Somebody was affecting her thoughts. Ktelor tried to search for the reason. It was not the White Queen since her mind was fully occupied with Xavier. Ktelor could not concentrate enough to help Xavier. Ktelor suddenly turned around and saw a young boy looking at her. He was a weak telepath with high empathic abilities. He was affecting Ktelor's mind. Ktelor tried to put up her psychic protections, but she could not concentrate enough. She stepped toward the boy. The boy was afraid himself, and was not sure what he should do now. He just tried to affect Ktelor's mind enough to make her unable to do anything to him. Ktelor took a few more steps until she was in front of the boy, still unreachable.
"Stop it", demanded Ktelor. She tried to gather her powers enough to affect the boy's mind, and succeeded to some extent. "Stop it, or I'll..." She took one more step toward the boy and snatched his neck. "Stop it now, or you won't live long." The boy was now extremely horrified and channeled his fear to Ktelor. Ktelor struggled against the effect, but could not control herself in the end. She cried out in panic and collapsed into a corner, as did the boy. Both of them were paralyzed of fear for a moment. Ktelor got herself together soon, and secured her empathic protections. She moved over to the boy, sat next to him and clutched his throat. "Now, do as I say or I swear I'll kill you." The boy still refused. Ktelor squeezed the boy's throat so that in two seconds it would break. The boy was clearly in extreme panic.
"NO! I'll obey! Don't!" the boy shouted to Ktelor. Ktelor let go and the boy rubbed his throat. He was still very afraid.
"Now, remember, if you don't obey me, whenever I have the chance, I'll hunt you down and kill you." Ktelor was very angry and serious, and the boy easily noticed that. He thought it would be the best choice to do what Ktelor said.
The White Queen had managed to beat Xavier by using a gun bottom to hit him unconscious. She was extremely exhausted and basically could not use her telepathy at all. She walked round the corner to where Ktelor and the boy were. Ktelor got instantly up, but could not evade the hit the White Queen delivered. Ktelor's cheek started bleeding. She jumped at the White Queen and grabbed her throat. The White Queen caught Ktelor's arms, and even though she could not move them, she managed to keep Ktelor from hurting her and squeezed Ktelor's arms so hard that Ktelor had to let go somewhat.
"Now, boy, make her fear! Remember what I said!" The boy hesitated for a few seconds, but then used his power on the White Queen, making it possible for Ktelor to knock her out with the help of her telepathy. The White Queen fainted. Ktelor dropped on the floor along with her. Her arms were aching like never before. After a short while, she felt a touch on her shoulder. It was the boy.
"You... you dragged me into this! I have no way of going back!" he shouted in panic. "It's all your fault! What will I do now!" Ktelor saw tears running down his face. She got up, held the boy's shoulder and looked at him.
"Come with me and Xavier then, now will ye? We'll help you, I'll promise." Ktelor left for the boy to choose whether or not he dared to trust her, though he could probably sense Ktelor was seriously speaking the truth.
Ktelor walked back to the main room, still holding her arms, and saw the back of the grunt still chasing Kitty. Ktelor hit the grunt as hard as she could and telepathically forced him unconscious.
"Are ye okay?" she asked Kitty.
"I... I think so", replied Kitty. She was out of breath, tired and afraid but okay.
Ktelor looked at Xavier. He was unconscious. Ktelor looked behind her, seeing the boy. "Are you coming?"
The boy was silent for a moment that seemed very long after the fast-paced fighting. "...Y-yes..."
Ktelor saw her and Xavier's clothes on a table. "What's your name?" Ktelor asked as she went to get the clothes.
"Empath."
"I meant your real name. What should we call ye?" Ktelor pulled on her trousers, moved the clothes on Xavier and started to unload the devices from the portable bed Xavier was lying on.
"Manuel..."
"Okay. We have to get out of here. Do you have any idea where we should be going?"
"Um... I think the transport halls are that way. They have a lot of cars there..."
"Alright. Come after me, both of ye, will ye." Ktelor started pushing the portable bed out of the room.
They arrived at the transport hall after a few dead ends and six more unconscious grunts. The halls were mainly empty. Ktelor saw a few cameras, but they could be easily avoided.
"We need a car... Can ye drive? How old are you?" asked Ktelor.
"Fourteen..."
"Great... Xavier's the only one who can drive here, but even if he was conscious, he can't use his legs... Oh well, driving can't be that hard, now can it?" Ktelor took her shoes, pulling them on. After that, she sneaked into the hall, found a good car and beckoned Manuel and Kitty to her. They pushed Xavier over also. Ktelor managed to get Xavier to the back seat of the car, strapping the seat belts so that he would not fall off even if she stopped suddenly. Kitty and Manuel soon moved to the other front seat. Ktelor sat on the place of the driver.
"Um... How old are you?" asked Manuel.
"Fifteen. I know the theory an' have driven once... So... no problem at all. Thank goodness this is an automatic. I'd be screwed with our good car... An' fasten yer seatbelts, will ye, ye're gonna need them." Ktelor started the engine and drove carefully, tricking the door guard to think they were allowed to go. After that, they had lots of straight road ahead of them and plenty of fuel in the tank.
They soon got away from the area and onto a highway.
"We're... in... Boston?!" exclaimed Ktelor. "And it's 5 AM! Your parents are going to be SO pissed..."
"Oh god", sighed Kitty. Ktelor was overly concentrated on the traffic.
"I... I can't drive like this for long. We have to stop somewhere..." She continued driving.
They soon passed the human living areas, stopping at the nearest gas station. Ktelor managed to park the car so that it actually fit the square.
"Okay... We can't go further now. Let's sleep an' think about this in the morning, shall we? If ye want to go to the bathroom, do so now an' come back real soon." Both Kitty and Manuel left.
Ktelor looked at Xavier, sighing. Her life would probably be just endless fighting in addition to the occasional death of a friend, unless Ktelor managed to die first. But that was not probable. She snatched the rest of her clothes and dressed before Kitty and Manuel came back. She also took Xavier's clothes to use as a pillow and his jacket to use as a coat.
"Now... Is everyone okay with sleeping first and talking then, like after we all have woken up at ten or something?"
"Yeah", said Kitty. She looked very tired.
Ktelor would have probably needed a ten-hour night of sleep after all that fighting, but that was not really an option now. She turned her legs at Kitty. "Come on. We'll sleep better this way, now won't we? I won't do anything." Kitty hesitated a little, but then moved over to Ktelor and lay on her. "Are ye okay, Manuel?"
"Yeah..." said Manuel. After Ktelor and Kitty had settled, he also took a comfortable position, trying to sleep.
He could still basically go back. He could call the White Queen and hand the runaways to her. But she would know that he had rebelled, even if he was forced to do it. She would not help him anymore. It was best he went with these mutants. And Ktelor had been serious. He fell asleep.
Manuel woke up in the morning. The time was around half to ten. Ktelor and Kitty were still sleeping. He looked to the back and saw Xavier moving and waking up. He quickly shook Ktelor's leg to get her awake.
"What? Who are you?" asked Xavier from the back. "What on earth..."
"Um, Prof!" muttered Ktelor from under Kitty. She moved Kitty a little, waking her up, and looked at Xavier.
"What on earth has happened, Ktelor?" Ktelor gave Xavier a short description of the few past happenings. "Goodness, Ktelor... We're still in Massachusetts?"
"Yep..."
"My god... The Prydes have probably reported us missing already... God..." Xavier lay back for a moment, and Ktelor straightened herself.
"What's going on?" asked Manuel.
"Well, nothing much... we're just screwed."
"What will happen to me?"
"What would you like to happen to you?"
"Jump back in time about seven hours and just forget my exercise..." Manuel leaned forwards and covered his face with his hands.
"Well, I wish I could jump back in time three an' half years and get my parents stay in Antarctica. It's an unfair world, so get used to it." Ktelor was quiet for a moment, and no one else did anything either. "We'll take you to New York with us. We have this school there, where Xavier teaches mutants how to deal with their powers. I'd guess you'd be good there."
Manuel did not reply. He just thought about what he had done. His previous life was over, there was absolutely no way going back. Everything he had done in the Massachusetts Academy, his friends, the teachers, everything... more or less gone. Maybe he could contact his friends sometimes. What would he do at Xavier's school? Probably the same stuff as in the academy. It did not sound that bad.
Ktelor sensed Manuel's depression but ignored it. She knew Manuel knew she sensed his feelings, and thus paid no attention, to respect his privacy.
"Xavier?" asked Ktelor. "What'll we do now?"
"Uh... I'm not that sure. Manuel, will you come with us to my School for Gifted Youngsters?"
"I guess I have no choice."
"...Alright. I think we could do it like this: I'll call for Lilandra and she will pick you up here. Then she'll take me, Ktelor and Kitty back to Chicago to talk with her parents. You will go back to the mansion and we will come later by plane."
"Sounds okay."
"Yeh", said Ktelor. Kitty nodded slightly.
"Who's Lilandra?"
"She is my ...wife, if that can be described that way. I'm sure she will tell you more when you meet her. Ktelor, take my hand. Help me to contact Lilandra..."
"What, no end to the exercises even in this kind of situation..." Ktelor took Xavier's hand and they formed a connection to Lilandra. Lilandra took a small jet and left for them.
She arrived in a bit less than an hour. She took Ktelor, Kitty and Xavier back to Chicago and then took Manuel back to New York. She had brought a new wheelchair for Xavier, for the previous one had been left at the complex in Massachusetts. They ordered a taxi and traveled back to Kitty's home.