Author's Note: Hey, back again. The madness continues, well not so much as the madness gets set to continue, but you get the picture.
Kirayoshi: Thanks. Peter is having some down time, but he'll be headlining the next chapter, so watch out for that J In the meantime, he's busy being his non-chatty self.
Madripoor Rose: Yay. You're the first to put this story on the fave list, so my heart goes out to you! I really like your name by the way.
Previously on…A usual day in class goes horribly wrong as Rachel Grey, AKA MARVEL GIRL, violently bursts into the room and attacks headmistress EMMA FROST. The battle leaves no one badly injured, but young student DERRICK GALLIS found himself unconscious, with no visible reason why. And as the X-Men discuss the situation in a simulated environment within the Danger Room, they're completely oblivious of the fact that an old mutant, by the name of BILE, has been recruiting Silver Age villains for his apparently violent cause…
Chapter 2: "Further and Farther"
"Read the news?" Logan asked, as he walked into the kitchen. Henry and Scott were already sitting on the table, having coffee. "It's on TV." The leader responded, pointing at the television set hanging on the upper corner of the room. "Oh. You people are lazy." Logan sneered as he grabbed a donut from the counter.
"That's the point of technology. Siphon away human potential." Henry dryly responded, his feline eyes still glued to the screen.
"So, these three people were melted, huh?" Scott commented. "Haven't had those in a while."
"Think it's a mutant problem?" Logan asked.
"Well, unless it's a serial killer lugging around a vat of acid…" Henry took off his glasses and cleaned them with the end of his tie.
"It could be just another metahuman. We'll have to let Emma use Cerebra to check if it's a mutant. " Scott suggested, finishing his cup.
"Which, incidentally, isn't done with the repairs. Dust really tore it a new one." Henry pointed out, getting up.
"At any rate, metahuman or mutant, we'll still go and check the scene." Said Scott.
"Oh yes. And hopefully find ourselves an adoring public who'd want to pin posters of us in their bedrooms." Logan crudely retorted.
"Who here misses the U-Men?" Henry asked sarcastically.
"…Anyone seen Peter?" Scott asked, to which the two other mutants shrugged their shoulders in response.
"He's stealing the 'mysterious one' image I worked so hard for." Logan commented.
"We'd better find him. Get to…you know, welcome him back. More." Scott suggested.
"Again, I don't see any wackiness ensuing in that guy's future. I say we give him space. He already has Kitty crowding him like an ADD case, anyway." Logan responded. And in a short moment of silence, that was the only time he picked up the person in question's scent, lingering outside.
"…oh." Both Logan and Henry turned to look at a closed door. "Crap." Scott uttered under his breath as he heard a set of heavy footsteps marching away.
"…Think he heard us?"
Headmaster/mistress' Office/10:23
"I must say…I'm quite relieved it was someone exerting telepathic control over you all along." Emma noted, as she looked outside the window of her office.
"How do you work that out?" Rachel asked, still dismayed over the fact that she let herself get taken over so easily. Being one of the most powerful mutants there was, she didn't only get her pride hurt, but the fact that her power could have been used to do something that could possibly be only described as evil, that was what frightened her the most.
"Well, dear, as selfish as it sounds, that's because I now know that what drove you to do what you did wasn't because of any…enmity between the two of us."
"…"
"I find that comforting."
"Well, I'm glad that you're glad that we might only be facing another super villain in the making. Because really, our personal history is so much worse. Apocalyptic even." Rachel sarcastically responded.
"…We made the mistake of letting young master Quire blossom with some very dangerous new ideas. So much so that it was too late for us to stop him when he decided to act out his uninhibited bid for attention. We all suffered a bright, young student for it."
"…"
"Do you know how this one is different from master Quire?"
"No, but I'm sure you'll tell me."
"Quentin Quire treasured subtlety. His telepathic influence was like a nudge into a specific direction, an appeal of sort. He tempted you with unattainable glory, and in that way, he kept his subversion below our very capable ears."
"…"
"But this one is far from subtle. Whoever this student is, he or she, the move to take over your mind left quite an imprint."
"…and that was?"
"Passion. Whoever did this, did it out of passion."
"Oh…you know I think, I think maybe that…whoever did this knew. About the both of us. That maybe whoever it is wasn't just telepathic."
"An empath?"
" Maybe my personal…opinion of you made it easier for him or her to force me to attack you."
"That's a sound statement. Maybe we can rally the horrid little empathic telepaths we have running around, try to whittle down the list of suspects."
"I'll get on to it."
"I'll have Kitty do it."
"…"
"Of course, this only proves to worsen the opinion that the student body has on the telepathic students. A lot of the undergraduates are already quite jumpy with the fact that they're talking to students who can read minds. God knows that those walking hormone bombs have secrets they prefer keeping."
"Okay…"
"We'll need to ensure that the rest of the students have a way to protect themselves against...our more mischievous telepathic brethren."
"…I'll get on to that. There aren't many anyway."
"Eight. That includes my girls. Thank you."
"Sure thing."
"…"
"uh, Emma, I'm-"
"There's nothing to be sorry about, Rachel. If anything, I see this as an opportunity for us to…spend time to level with each other."
"I…I just want to make it clear, that I respect you, Emma."
"…"
" But you're not my friend. And I still…really, really don't agree to you being together with my dad."
"…I know. And in all honesty, it really isn't in my agenda to throw myself at your feet in search for some sign of acceptance."
"…"
"But I love Scott. And if loving him means that I need to bear with your…disagreement with my very existence, then it is something I earnestly plan on enduring."
"…Glad to know."
"Well, let's end this spot of uncharacteristic drama, and get on with the business at hand, shall we?"
"Please, and thank you."
"Right now, you are to tell me who are the students that you've been in contact with the last twenty-four hours."
"The whole day? Do I have to?"
"Of course I could just hack into your brain and gleefully shuffle through your memory bank, but I think that doing so would be ever so rude."
"Your compassion is earth-shattering."
"I try my best."
Campus Grounds/ 11:26
The sun washed over the institute, turning the dew into a bright golden color. Cool, soft winds blew across the grounds, making it seem more like an idyllic vacation house and not a school. That's why the students enjoyed spending their time in the gardens. Come spring, the trees come alive with colors of valiant red and orange, a feast for the eyes when you include acrobatic leopard men jumping about.
"I swear man, I think I'm in love with her." Mark commented as he watched Miss Frost walking into the rose garden. As always, she carried herself with an air of dignity that reflected her upper-class breeding.
"Is that because of her ability to not wear clothes?' Derrick asked sarcastically, earning him a slight tap at the back of the head from his best friend. "Come on, you know my love for her goes deeper than that." Mark rebutted in between his laughter. They sat beneath a large oak tree, just a few feet away from a few kids who were playing aerial tennis. Derrick waved as a student named Hisako passed by them, and she returned in kind.
"…That's the rose garden where they built the shrine right? To Sophie?" Derrick then asked, referring to where Miss Frost went.
"Uh-huh. Damn, I really wish I could have been here when Kid Omega tried taking down the admin."
"Come on. We were still in the Massachusetts academy back then."
"Yeah, but you know, maybe we could have helped. Maybe we could've, you know, made a difference."
"We don't even have any thought shields. If we tried stopping him, chances are, he'd regress us back to our anal stage."
"Not if he didn't know what hit him."
"…At least Quentin didn't have everyone wetting their pants. Remember when Mr. Logan went rogue?"
"Who doesn't? That lunatic totally broke my PSP in two when he crashed the jet through the main building."
"Why did you leave it there, anyway?"
"I didn't leave it there, Julian did. He said he was going to give it back to me. That bastard."
"Oh. You know, you really shouldn't trust a kid whose codename is Hellion."
'Tell us about it." Interrupted three female voices in unison. The two young men turned their heads to find the Stepford Cuckoos headed their way."He thinks that just because Miss Frost let him lead her advisory squad, that he's the most desirable boy in campus. Which is not a total lie, but not the complete case either. We hear that he has money problems right now."
"Hey ladies." Mark greeted. "Hello Mark, Derrick." They all greeted, putting down blankets on the grass to sit on.
"Hey, I heard they're pinning the whole fiasco yesterday on one of the students." Mark started, taking out a pack of biscuits from his messenger bag. "Any news?"
"Well, they think there's a powerful telepath that wanted to cause a ruckus." Mindee responded.
"Miss Pryde is talking to Blindfold right now." Celeste continued.
"And she's being very, very candid about the things she 'overhears' the other students think." Phoebe finished, in a somewhat disgusted tone.
"How are they even sure a student did this?" Derrick asked, taking a biscuit from his best friend.
"Deduction." The three of them responded."But we don't think it's a student. We've seen what every telepath on campus has to offer, and none of them have what it takes to push aMissSummersinto being homicidal."
"...You know girls, if you weren't all drop-dead gorgeous, people would get freaked out by your whole uni-mind thing." Mark joked, tossing the pack of biscuits to Celeste.
"Wait, wait, wait, it just dawned on me...does that mean if one of you…goes boom boom with joy… then all of you feel it? You all go boom, boom?" Derrick inquired, unable to stop himself from asking the question.
"What a dirty thought. You know, we could fuse your minds into one as well." Mindee suggested, referring to the two best friends. "Let's see how you enjoy being a two-in-one." Phoebe added.
"I'd rather not. Unlike Mark here, I don't want to spend the rest of my life thinking about my next lay all the time. The question was a once in a blue moon kind of thing." Derrick commented.
"On a side note, Miss Pryde wants to talk to you next, Derrick Gallis." All three of them then said, their eyes literally lighting up in the process. "She's thinking that she's very worried about how you're doing, especially since you got knocked out yesterday."
"Oh. Well, okay." Derrick simply responded, scratching the back of his head.
"Hey, Derrick." Mark nudged him on the shoulder. "Kitty wants to see you." He teased, giving it a malicious twist. "Shut up, man." The young man answered, throwing a small piece of his unfinished biscuit at Mark.
"…Oh" The three telepaths' eyes lit up, and once again resumed their normal state. "We didn't know." The three of them commented.
"…huh? Didn't know what?" Mark asked.
"…Nothing." Responded the three Cuckoos after receiving a mental plea from Derrick. "Oh, there's Miss Frost." They immediately pointed, changing the subject in the process. "University Week is coming, and we're planning to make it quite a show." The three women explained. "Care to help us?"
"Uh, what do we do?" Mark asked., to which the three girls smiled.
Bench area/ 11:29
"So, you're saying you felt it too? That psychic feedback that Emma and her girls felt?" Kitty asked, once again in the spot that she regularly kept her guidance sessions.
"Yes, and no."
"Yes…and no?"
"My mind was not with me. It hurt to stay." The female telepath cryptically responded. She called herself Blindfold, which anyone could surmise, would be from the fact that she always kept a blindfold on. It was to cover the spot where a set of eyes should have been.
"Uh…okay, why did it hurt to stay?" Kitty asked, pushing back a strand of her brown hair from her eye.
"Because Wing would say no. Over and over I'd ask him, but over and over he'd shake his head. Hisako doesn't know that he actually likes her too. But not me. That's why I left. My mind left. But I was brought back."
"…Brought back?"
"Yes. Something pulled me back. A faint whisper. A promise. But not to me. I believe that where I conscious, I would have heard more."
"Okay…did you…hear, who it was to?" There was a tinge of excitement in Kitty's voice, since she knew she had the possibility of a lead right there with her.
"No. No, I was afraid. The voice wasn't welcoming. Rude."
"Could you identify that voice? Is it anyone you know? Was it male or female?" Kitty asked, getting a little ahead of herself.
"No. Neither male or female. It was just…pure fury. The voice, itwas the sound of fury."
Salem, New York/ 2300
Incandescent lights bounced off the corridor walls, forcing the golden wallpaper to shine even moreBile fixed his coat before knocking on the door at the end of it, three tines. It took a few seconds before an eye slit was opened, revealing the man on the other side. The man had a black suit on, but his entire face, save for his eyes, was covered in leather. "May I help you, sir?" he asked, not at all concerned about the fact that the man he was talking to looked like something from a Stephen King novel.
"Yes, I'm Mr. Bile." The man greeted. "I believe I have a reservation for tonight's seminar." He then said, to which the man enthusiastically nodded. "Ah, yes, sir, just a moment." The man responded, as he unlocked the door and let the mutant in.
"You've come at just the nick of time sir, the seminar is but a few seconds from opening."
"Lovely." Bile responded, taking off his coat and handing it to the servant.
"Right this way sir." He then said, gesturing to the living room, where a couple of other people were already huddled together. A few of them turned to momentarily glance at the new arrivals, before resuming their attention to the speakers identifying themselves. In the middle of the living room was a young woman in full leather attire. Bondage attire.
"I'm glad you could join us, uh, Mr. Bile, was it?" greeted a middle-aged , lavishly dressed woman, who was standing beside the kneeling fetish demonstration.
"The pleasure is mine." The old mutant responded, as he scanned the room for the person, for the mutant that he was looking for. And as the hostess began to elaborate on a new machine that helped fetishists pleasure themselves, Bile's eyes finally settled on an old man who hid behind a corner, leading to the kitchen. Like the doorman and the young lady, this man had the thematic attire on. Old and overweight, the most distinguishing factor was that anyone could easily see a disfigured man hiding behind the leather-strapped mask. With a sly smile, Bile slipped behind the small crowd and moved his way to the old man in the kitchen. "So, you design little bondage contraptions now. It saddens me to see that you've become such a…helpful member of society." The old mutant remarked, as he watched the masked man try to keep his space.
"What do you want, Bile?" the man asked, with a fearful voice that betrayed his large frame.
"Ah, so you've heard of me." Remarked Bile, a glitter forming in his scarlet eyes.
"It's nothing to be flattered about." The man responded, peering over the corner to see if the crowd was still pre-occupied by his pleasurable invention.
"…You know, I once heard about a mutant that had quite some remarkable psionic abilities. With just a gesture…" Bile raised his palm and opened it. "This mutant could shape his mental energy into chains…shackles…restraints…and if he really put his mind into it, well, he could make Pinhead look like an amateur."
"…I don't want anymore trouble." The other mutant responded.
"Oh? And is this? Playing lackey to some upstate fetishists who have nothing better to do with their money? You know this isn't what you want. You don't want to dominate those willing to be dominated. No. You want to see them cry. See them beg for you to stop their misery."
"…"
"That's why. Mutants like us don't have the privilege of letting time and old age wither us down. There won't be anyone standing over our graves and mourning their loss. No. Mutants like us, we make sure that if no one mourns us in death, then they will mourn our living."
"…"
"So how about it? You say no to my offer, I walk away, no harm, no foul. You say yes? You say yes and we go down in the history books. And you get to act what you really fantasize about."
"…Do I get to spank Britney Spears?"
"Your heart's desire."
"…That sounds...groovy."
"It is. Now... tell me your name."
"...It's Manacle. I'm called The Manacle."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, my good man."
"…"
"Now, just to shake off the rust, how's about you show me what you can do with that black and white imagination of yours?" Bile said, gesturing with his right hand to the crowd huddled together in the living room...
Chapter 2, End.
Author's Note; Well, that's it for the second chapter. Hoped you enjoyed (and review). Hihihihi. Anyway, on the next exciting issue, we go inside Peter Rasputin's monosyllabic head, and another X-Member goes crazy!