"The Alliance?" Scott echoed behind Jolie, but she wasn't paying attention to him as he turned to run back into the building. "I have to tell the Professor."
"Why?" Jolie was too horrified to think of anything else to ask. She had been sent on a mission, and she would no doubt be punished severely for her failure.
Nikita shook her head, she had sat down in the snow and seemed to be recovering from her flight to the school slowly. "I'm not sure. But he was furious." Nikita looked frightened in a way Jolie had never seen before. "I don't know why you've come here, but it's bad Jolie, you should stop!"
"I haven't done anything yet, I was supposed to..." She choked on her own words before she realized that she would be unable to explain to her friend what was going on.
Nikita just continued with her terrified banter, "You have to stop it, whatever it is. It is, evil..." She whispered, as though the very mention of it could start something horrid. "I've seen some of Nickolas' thoughts; they are darker, much darker than I have ever seen. And I sense some of that darkness has been transferred to you. Please," She grabbed Jolie's hand. "Don't let him take you...he is here..." She whispered the last part as if it were a prophecy.
Retrieve the Scrolls before I arrive. It would be unwise to fail. Nickolas' presence forced itself into her mind. She felt her legs moving without their bidding; the familiar tug that had been absent of late, returned full force, guiding her once again. She quickly made her way into the mansion again, running blindly through the halls. But the maze did not seem so uncertain as it would have normally. Now there was a beacon guiding her to the office of Professor Xavier.
She heard muffled movements past the walls but she thought nothing of it and continued to her destination. The double doors of Xavier's office stood before her, thrown open as though someone had left in a hurry. She smiled; it was all going to be too simple. Stepping into the office with light steps she flexed her shoulders and felt the familiar pain of re- growing the wings, listening to the crack of new bone forming. The wings easily slid around her tank top straps and finally, in full form, flapped magnificently. They propelled her into the air gently, so she would not soar up and hit the ceiling, and delicately made her way to the topmost shelf of books.
She reached out her hand, searching the titles with her fingers until she felt the tug in her chest. "Ah," She smiled grabbing one of the larger books. She opened the cover gently, finding that the pages had been cut out in the middle, leaving a good sized gap for storage. Her eyes caught what she wanted immediately, old brown parchment rolls, tied together, and smelling of ancient times. They were relatively small, only the length of her palm, but she knew what power they held. With the proper use, it could unleash a plague of frightful proportions. It was Nickolas' dream to unleash it onto the human race so that they would never fear again. It was to be his gift to the mutant race.
Jolie's heart thudded loudly in her chest, somewhere in the back of her mind she was screaming, but that was locked far away. She landed quickly and ran back to where she had left Nikita.
She was stopped at the sliding glass door, where Scott stood, dressed in very different attire. His hand was up at his temple, pressing something. She slowed to a walk, confused at the stoic expression on his face. "What's wrong?" She asked, clearly having missed something.
"You...you're with the Alliance." He seemed to spit out the word, as if it were something distasteful to him.
Jolie found she couldn't answer him, it seemed that was another thing that she was restricted to. "Is that wrong? Just a gathering of mutants so that we can stay safe."
Scott found his resolve melting. How could it be so bad if Jolie was a part of it? "Is that what you came to steal before?"
Jolie found things hard to explain to him with so many things blocked. "It is only to help us stay safe. Please Scott, come with me." The question came out so suddenly it even shocked herself. Scott stood baffled for a moment, unable to say anything. Jolie closed the distance between them quickly, Scott's hand lowered from his temple. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him. "I've always been alone Scott. With you, I feel better, I feel safe. Come with me." She repeated, wishing with all her heart that he would say yes.
Scott looked as though he struggled with the thought for a moment, he reached up with his hand and cradled her face. He sighed softly, but shook his head. "I can't do that Jolie."
Jolie instantly felt her heart crush into tiny pieces. A few silent tears rolled down her face, Scott brushed a few of them away with his gloved hand but she turned away. "I must leave." Scott looked as though he would try to stop her, as was his duty, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He stepped aside, when suddenly the world tore in half.
The roof of the hallway tore away, revealing a clear sky, the stars were brighter than ever and the moon shone brilliantly. Frigid air swept into the area around Scott and Jolie, and the floor crumbled beneath them. The wall to the outside had shattered and fallen to the ground. Jolie watched as a tall man with blonde hair raised his fist into the air, taking the ceiling with it, and the tossed it some distance behind them. Another man pushed his outstretched palm across the ground in front of him and the floor split up more, and anything left of the wall instantly crumbled. Jolie could hear a low laughter high above them all. She jumped into the air and joined Nickolas where he was floating above them all.
"I have the scrolls." She showed him the brown rolls that she carried in her hands. "Why have you come?"
Nickolas laughed. "You did not think we would be able to unleash a plague on the human race without hearing from the X-men." He spoke mockingly of the name.
"The X-men are not here. I am sure they have more important matters to attend to."
Nickolas just laughed at her. "Surely you have noticed the boy with the laser eyes, I would have imagined with you being so intimate with him." Jolie felt a sadness swelling up in her throat but held it back. "And the beast with the claws, the fair red head with powerful telekinetic powers? Did you think this was all just a coincidence?" He laughed again. "Truly you are more pathetic than I had imagined."
Jolie slowly turned her gaze to the ground where Scott had stood. He was now surrounded by others in the same sort of black leather ensemble. She had not noticed the familiar 'X' pattern that had been sewn in until just now. "No..." She whispered unable to comprehend it all.
"But now we can test the scrolls on them, since they all showed up so rudely without invitation." He snatched the scrolls out of Jolie's hand without even a suggestion that she might deny him. Immediately beneath them she saw and heard a fight began to erupt. The Alliance members had become agitated and launched themselves at the X-men. Jean had easily flung some of them aside while Scott had blasted a few of them, but they were all just momentarily stunned.
Logan wasted no time in giving warning shots, he jumped on the closest mutant and in a flash of claws had him on the ground. The man beneath him shot spurts of water in all directions trying to get Logan to release him, but to no avail. Logan fought like a rabid animal, Jolie could see why she had been so terrified of him before.
Soon winds were gusting violently, threatening to tilt Jolie if she were to lose control of her wings. She could see Ororo in the distance, her eyes a brilliant white even at her distance. Hail began to bounce off of her head, severely painful, and the chunks were only growing larger.
She looked to Nickolas who had the scrolls open and floating in front of him. He had a sinister smile upon his face as he spoke in a language she didn't understand. But she felt her mind loosen, his grip seemed to be slipping somehow as he was focused on the scrolls. With such clarity she realized what he was about to do, if he were to unleash the plague, all humans would die, there would be no cure. She had a stunning realization of what he had always been planning, he wanted to run the country, he wanted all those that survived to bow beneath him, he wanted the power. She had been blind to it all, but with his attention away from her she found she could think freely again.
She searched quickly for the familiar blue flames, she could see Nikita keeping her distance from the fighting, she was probably just as confused as Jolie was. She dove down, arriving quickly, Nikita looked frightened. "What do we do?" She shivered in the below zero temperatures.
"You have to burn the scrolls Nikita. I'll distract him, you just destroy them." Jolie held Nikita's shoulders, careful to make eye contact with her. "Can you do that?"
Nikita nodded solemnly. They both took off, ignoring the fight below them that seemed to be turning bad for the Alliance. The weather seemed to be weakening them severely, and Logan had just finished cutting the throat of another one. Jolie looked away from the fight and focused on her task at hand. She soared up above Nickolas' head and began to beat her wings furiously around his head while hovering; she kicked him solidly in the head and then leapt higher up into the air, just out of his reach. Nickolas' turned to face Jolie. He clenched his fists at his side, making a growling noise in his throat. His eyes no longer had any pupils, they were just black voids, she could only see hate in them. Her eyes lingered on Nikita's progress, she was nearly close enough to burn the parchment.
Suddenly Nickolas smiled, a sadistic grin grew across his face and he snapped his fingers. Nikita began to scream as her own flame seemed to eat away at her flesh, she began to tumble back towards earth. Jolie let out her own cry and dove after her, Nikita hit the ground and extinguished, but when Jolie reached her, there was nothing left. Only a pearl sized blue gem, she picked it up and sobbed. He shoulders shook as she collapsed into the snow, only the dark voice of Nickolas brought her to.
"Did you think my own creation could betray me?" He laughed loudly, grating against Jolie's nerves. "She is a figment of my imagination. I can see what she sees, I can hear what she thinks. What chance did you have?"
Jolie shook her head, she wouldn't believe that something as good and decent as Nikita had been formed from his black mind. Even if he had, he had made her flawed, because even she had decided to betray him, no matter what Nickolas thought. Regardless a rage began to build up in Jolie, she could taste the bile in the back of her throat. She would not let this man live. He had taken her mind, and now he had taken her friend, she would see him die tonight.
The crackle of her own electricity filled the air as she let her power flow into a ball around her. It glowed with a white intensity, and electrified her hair so that it flew wildly about her head. Her eyes reflected the electricity around her as she flew up toward Nickolas. His laughter had stopped but the smile had not faded from his face.
How do you know you are real? He filled her mind with doubt and something else, he had taken his mind away from the scrolls and now he could control her once again. But she refused to give in, slowly she beat against the barriers in her mind, slowly until she was able to outstretch her arms. She clenched her hands into fists and propelled herself full force at the man who had caused her so much pain. She connected with him, but she did not stop. She pushed them both up higher and higher into the air, faster than she had ever gone before. She could hear Nickolas laughing again.
"You would kill us both?"
She knew he wouldn't think it was funny if he realized how true his statement had been. But she could see nothing now, not his face, not the sky above, just the bright electricity that surrounded her. Making her into a ticking bomb to what ever she connected with. She felt her lungs began to beg for more oxygen, she knew she had flown far enough. She quickly reversed directions and increased her speed more than she had though possible. She felt the cold air burning her face as she plummeted to the ground. She thought she heard Nickolas began to scream, but that could have just been the wind screaming past her face.
Don't...She heard Nickolas' pleading voice one last time, but she ignored it as she gave one final burst of speed, connecting with the ground.
The world was a flash of brilliant white, and a thunderous explosion, it shook her very bones. She came to for a short while, the taste of blood fresh in her mouth. Her ears could take in nothing but the deafening silence that surrounded her head. She could feel several of the bones in her wings broken, but she didn't have the strength to break them off. She could see the snow around her stained with blood, whose it was she wasn't sure. She tried to look around but she couldn't lift her head from the cold snow. Her eyes searched the sky, realizing she had created a crater, deep in the snow. As the first new flakes of snow hit her in the face she smiled.
At least a proper burial. She let the darkness take her away peacefully as it filled her with a warm feeling. The snow slowly covered her broken body, hiding the fresh blood strains in her beautiful white wings.
"Why?" Jolie was too horrified to think of anything else to ask. She had been sent on a mission, and she would no doubt be punished severely for her failure.
Nikita shook her head, she had sat down in the snow and seemed to be recovering from her flight to the school slowly. "I'm not sure. But he was furious." Nikita looked frightened in a way Jolie had never seen before. "I don't know why you've come here, but it's bad Jolie, you should stop!"
"I haven't done anything yet, I was supposed to..." She choked on her own words before she realized that she would be unable to explain to her friend what was going on.
Nikita just continued with her terrified banter, "You have to stop it, whatever it is. It is, evil..." She whispered, as though the very mention of it could start something horrid. "I've seen some of Nickolas' thoughts; they are darker, much darker than I have ever seen. And I sense some of that darkness has been transferred to you. Please," She grabbed Jolie's hand. "Don't let him take you...he is here..." She whispered the last part as if it were a prophecy.
Retrieve the Scrolls before I arrive. It would be unwise to fail. Nickolas' presence forced itself into her mind. She felt her legs moving without their bidding; the familiar tug that had been absent of late, returned full force, guiding her once again. She quickly made her way into the mansion again, running blindly through the halls. But the maze did not seem so uncertain as it would have normally. Now there was a beacon guiding her to the office of Professor Xavier.
She heard muffled movements past the walls but she thought nothing of it and continued to her destination. The double doors of Xavier's office stood before her, thrown open as though someone had left in a hurry. She smiled; it was all going to be too simple. Stepping into the office with light steps she flexed her shoulders and felt the familiar pain of re- growing the wings, listening to the crack of new bone forming. The wings easily slid around her tank top straps and finally, in full form, flapped magnificently. They propelled her into the air gently, so she would not soar up and hit the ceiling, and delicately made her way to the topmost shelf of books.
She reached out her hand, searching the titles with her fingers until she felt the tug in her chest. "Ah," She smiled grabbing one of the larger books. She opened the cover gently, finding that the pages had been cut out in the middle, leaving a good sized gap for storage. Her eyes caught what she wanted immediately, old brown parchment rolls, tied together, and smelling of ancient times. They were relatively small, only the length of her palm, but she knew what power they held. With the proper use, it could unleash a plague of frightful proportions. It was Nickolas' dream to unleash it onto the human race so that they would never fear again. It was to be his gift to the mutant race.
Jolie's heart thudded loudly in her chest, somewhere in the back of her mind she was screaming, but that was locked far away. She landed quickly and ran back to where she had left Nikita.
She was stopped at the sliding glass door, where Scott stood, dressed in very different attire. His hand was up at his temple, pressing something. She slowed to a walk, confused at the stoic expression on his face. "What's wrong?" She asked, clearly having missed something.
"You...you're with the Alliance." He seemed to spit out the word, as if it were something distasteful to him.
Jolie found she couldn't answer him, it seemed that was another thing that she was restricted to. "Is that wrong? Just a gathering of mutants so that we can stay safe."
Scott found his resolve melting. How could it be so bad if Jolie was a part of it? "Is that what you came to steal before?"
Jolie found things hard to explain to him with so many things blocked. "It is only to help us stay safe. Please Scott, come with me." The question came out so suddenly it even shocked herself. Scott stood baffled for a moment, unable to say anything. Jolie closed the distance between them quickly, Scott's hand lowered from his temple. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him. "I've always been alone Scott. With you, I feel better, I feel safe. Come with me." She repeated, wishing with all her heart that he would say yes.
Scott looked as though he struggled with the thought for a moment, he reached up with his hand and cradled her face. He sighed softly, but shook his head. "I can't do that Jolie."
Jolie instantly felt her heart crush into tiny pieces. A few silent tears rolled down her face, Scott brushed a few of them away with his gloved hand but she turned away. "I must leave." Scott looked as though he would try to stop her, as was his duty, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He stepped aside, when suddenly the world tore in half.
The roof of the hallway tore away, revealing a clear sky, the stars were brighter than ever and the moon shone brilliantly. Frigid air swept into the area around Scott and Jolie, and the floor crumbled beneath them. The wall to the outside had shattered and fallen to the ground. Jolie watched as a tall man with blonde hair raised his fist into the air, taking the ceiling with it, and the tossed it some distance behind them. Another man pushed his outstretched palm across the ground in front of him and the floor split up more, and anything left of the wall instantly crumbled. Jolie could hear a low laughter high above them all. She jumped into the air and joined Nickolas where he was floating above them all.
"I have the scrolls." She showed him the brown rolls that she carried in her hands. "Why have you come?"
Nickolas laughed. "You did not think we would be able to unleash a plague on the human race without hearing from the X-men." He spoke mockingly of the name.
"The X-men are not here. I am sure they have more important matters to attend to."
Nickolas just laughed at her. "Surely you have noticed the boy with the laser eyes, I would have imagined with you being so intimate with him." Jolie felt a sadness swelling up in her throat but held it back. "And the beast with the claws, the fair red head with powerful telekinetic powers? Did you think this was all just a coincidence?" He laughed again. "Truly you are more pathetic than I had imagined."
Jolie slowly turned her gaze to the ground where Scott had stood. He was now surrounded by others in the same sort of black leather ensemble. She had not noticed the familiar 'X' pattern that had been sewn in until just now. "No..." She whispered unable to comprehend it all.
"But now we can test the scrolls on them, since they all showed up so rudely without invitation." He snatched the scrolls out of Jolie's hand without even a suggestion that she might deny him. Immediately beneath them she saw and heard a fight began to erupt. The Alliance members had become agitated and launched themselves at the X-men. Jean had easily flung some of them aside while Scott had blasted a few of them, but they were all just momentarily stunned.
Logan wasted no time in giving warning shots, he jumped on the closest mutant and in a flash of claws had him on the ground. The man beneath him shot spurts of water in all directions trying to get Logan to release him, but to no avail. Logan fought like a rabid animal, Jolie could see why she had been so terrified of him before.
Soon winds were gusting violently, threatening to tilt Jolie if she were to lose control of her wings. She could see Ororo in the distance, her eyes a brilliant white even at her distance. Hail began to bounce off of her head, severely painful, and the chunks were only growing larger.
She looked to Nickolas who had the scrolls open and floating in front of him. He had a sinister smile upon his face as he spoke in a language she didn't understand. But she felt her mind loosen, his grip seemed to be slipping somehow as he was focused on the scrolls. With such clarity she realized what he was about to do, if he were to unleash the plague, all humans would die, there would be no cure. She had a stunning realization of what he had always been planning, he wanted to run the country, he wanted all those that survived to bow beneath him, he wanted the power. She had been blind to it all, but with his attention away from her she found she could think freely again.
She searched quickly for the familiar blue flames, she could see Nikita keeping her distance from the fighting, she was probably just as confused as Jolie was. She dove down, arriving quickly, Nikita looked frightened. "What do we do?" She shivered in the below zero temperatures.
"You have to burn the scrolls Nikita. I'll distract him, you just destroy them." Jolie held Nikita's shoulders, careful to make eye contact with her. "Can you do that?"
Nikita nodded solemnly. They both took off, ignoring the fight below them that seemed to be turning bad for the Alliance. The weather seemed to be weakening them severely, and Logan had just finished cutting the throat of another one. Jolie looked away from the fight and focused on her task at hand. She soared up above Nickolas' head and began to beat her wings furiously around his head while hovering; she kicked him solidly in the head and then leapt higher up into the air, just out of his reach. Nickolas' turned to face Jolie. He clenched his fists at his side, making a growling noise in his throat. His eyes no longer had any pupils, they were just black voids, she could only see hate in them. Her eyes lingered on Nikita's progress, she was nearly close enough to burn the parchment.
Suddenly Nickolas smiled, a sadistic grin grew across his face and he snapped his fingers. Nikita began to scream as her own flame seemed to eat away at her flesh, she began to tumble back towards earth. Jolie let out her own cry and dove after her, Nikita hit the ground and extinguished, but when Jolie reached her, there was nothing left. Only a pearl sized blue gem, she picked it up and sobbed. He shoulders shook as she collapsed into the snow, only the dark voice of Nickolas brought her to.
"Did you think my own creation could betray me?" He laughed loudly, grating against Jolie's nerves. "She is a figment of my imagination. I can see what she sees, I can hear what she thinks. What chance did you have?"
Jolie shook her head, she wouldn't believe that something as good and decent as Nikita had been formed from his black mind. Even if he had, he had made her flawed, because even she had decided to betray him, no matter what Nickolas thought. Regardless a rage began to build up in Jolie, she could taste the bile in the back of her throat. She would not let this man live. He had taken her mind, and now he had taken her friend, she would see him die tonight.
The crackle of her own electricity filled the air as she let her power flow into a ball around her. It glowed with a white intensity, and electrified her hair so that it flew wildly about her head. Her eyes reflected the electricity around her as she flew up toward Nickolas. His laughter had stopped but the smile had not faded from his face.
How do you know you are real? He filled her mind with doubt and something else, he had taken his mind away from the scrolls and now he could control her once again. But she refused to give in, slowly she beat against the barriers in her mind, slowly until she was able to outstretch her arms. She clenched her hands into fists and propelled herself full force at the man who had caused her so much pain. She connected with him, but she did not stop. She pushed them both up higher and higher into the air, faster than she had ever gone before. She could hear Nickolas laughing again.
"You would kill us both?"
She knew he wouldn't think it was funny if he realized how true his statement had been. But she could see nothing now, not his face, not the sky above, just the bright electricity that surrounded her. Making her into a ticking bomb to what ever she connected with. She felt her lungs began to beg for more oxygen, she knew she had flown far enough. She quickly reversed directions and increased her speed more than she had though possible. She felt the cold air burning her face as she plummeted to the ground. She thought she heard Nickolas began to scream, but that could have just been the wind screaming past her face.
Don't...She heard Nickolas' pleading voice one last time, but she ignored it as she gave one final burst of speed, connecting with the ground.
The world was a flash of brilliant white, and a thunderous explosion, it shook her very bones. She came to for a short while, the taste of blood fresh in her mouth. Her ears could take in nothing but the deafening silence that surrounded her head. She could feel several of the bones in her wings broken, but she didn't have the strength to break them off. She could see the snow around her stained with blood, whose it was she wasn't sure. She tried to look around but she couldn't lift her head from the cold snow. Her eyes searched the sky, realizing she had created a crater, deep in the snow. As the first new flakes of snow hit her in the face she smiled.
At least a proper burial. She let the darkness take her away peacefully as it filled her with a warm feeling. The snow slowly covered her broken body, hiding the fresh blood strains in her beautiful white wings.