More Than Us
Chapter Three
A scream escaped from Inferna's lips as she flew forcefully through the air, flailing her arms and legs rather ungracefully. Her and Charm landed with a splash back at the mansion's swimming pool. As Inferna emerged, Charm floated, giggling happily. Inferna had a sour look on her face.
"That was fun!" said Charm through her laughter. Inferna climbed angrily out of the pool.
"Yeah, maybe for you…hey…where's Psysage?"
"And what about Terra…?" Charm replied concerned.
"Those people must have them! We need to go back there and save them!" exclaimed Inferna, heading off in a random direction. Charm quickly pulled herself out of the pool and grabbed a hold of her friend's arm.
"NO! Terra told us to get the X-Men, we need to go get the X-men. We'd have no chance of saving them by ourselves, and our death won't help at all." Inferna knew her friend was right, but didn't want to admit she was useless in helping her friends. She finally conceded, lowering her head.
"You're right. Let's go find someone that can help…" with that the two walked towards the Mansion.
Paige slowly rolled her head upwards as she came to. As her vision cleared, she moved her arm up to move her hair and found that she was handcuffed.
"Forty five minutes, and thirty two point seven seconds. Not bad." Said a smooth voice. She focused her vision and saw the same man from before, as well as the two girls standing on either side of them. There was a steel table between herself and her enemies, and she realized she was also chained to the metal chair upon which she sat.
"I'm sorry, I'm awfully bad with names…Siryn, and Jazz, wasn't it?" she said slowly.
"Razz, actually. You'll forgive me for not forgetting yours, but Terra is awfully boring, which makes it hard to forget." Replied Razz. Terra closed her eyes, trying not to let them upset her.
"As for me, they call me Splinter. But, well, we're all friends here. Might as well call her Sarah, and that green-haired beauty Milla. As for me, you can call me Billy, Paige." He said with a smile. Paige couldn't conceal her shock.
"How…did you know…my real name?" she said slowly.
"We know many things, Paige. Maybe you'd like to know more about us?" Paige nodded numbly as Milla continued to talk.
"We're members of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle. Working with the Black King and Queen, we are researching and developing ways to shape the future more to …our liking."
"And what, exactly, do you want with me?"
"It's somewhat simple, really. You, and your friends were caught trespassing on our grounds. Although we're fairly sure you all learned nothing, we can't simply let you leave." Said Sarah.
"So, you will work for us." Billy completed the concept.
"Work? For you? Never." Replied Paige strongly. Milla suddenly jumped into the air, over the table, and kicking Paige in the face before landing. Paige fell painfully on to her side, still attached to the chair. Sarah and Billy walked around to her, while Milla pulled down her dress a little bit.
"You might as well, really. You've got nothing to lose." Said Billy.
"Except all my morals, dignity, the very thing I am!" spat back Paige, the ground around them shaking slightly. She usually hated when her powers flared because of emotions, but maybe it would work on her side…just this once. There was dark laughter coming from Sarah.
"I see now, you think you're going to get rescued, or somehow break out of here yourself. It's useless. Your 'X-buddies' could never reach you…we've already killed your precious Anthony." She said, amused. The last words hit Paige hard, taking her breath from her.
"He went out rather courageously though…I for one was impressed…we could've used him, if he wasn't so…dead." Added Milla.
"Stop…lying," defiantly said Paige, mustering what strength she had left, remembering her training.
"We
have no need to lie to you. We want you to join us, and we can teach
you how to really use your powers, while keeping your emotions in
check. At least think about it. However, whether you join us or not,
Sarah and Milla need a little exercise." Billy headed for the
door.
"Don't hold back, girls, but keep her alive. Feel free
to take her capacity for pain to its very limits." With that, Billy
left Paige alone with the two deadly girls, already warming up their
powers. However, knowing that her teammate was dead because of her
foolish plan, she found no reason to fight back.
Codenames Shadowcat and Beast were sitting in the garden of the Mansion, enjoying each other's company, when two drenched students approached them.
"Doctor McCoy! Madame Pryde! You must help us!" implored Emma.
"Why, Emma Tucker, Juliet Guthrie, I thought you two were sent on a mission alongside Paige Menzel and Anthony Davis?" said the Beast.
"We were! And we fell down into this cave, where these weird people chased us, and they have Paige and Anthony!" said Emma as fast as possible.
"Where…how far did you guys go!" replied Shadowcat.
"Just outside the mansion! Still part of the grounds, I would think…it was that way," said Juliet, pointing north. Shadowcat and Beast exchanged concerned looks.
"What type of people were down there? Morlocks?" asked Shadowcat.
"No…I think they were mutants, but not morlocks. They looked like regular humans, but they attacked fast. They were really organized too, and had equipment like computers and stuff down there…" Emma tried to explain.
"I think it would be best if we go talk to Headmasters about this…" started Beast, when the White Queen, Emma Frost, and Cyclops, Scott Summers, appeared.
"You know I prefer to title Headmistress, Hank." Shadowcat's eyes narrowed, and it was obviously she didn't agree with the White Queen…at all.
"Inferna, Charm…where is the rest of your team?" said Cyclops.
"They've been captured!" exclaimed Emma, sounding much more younger than she intended. The beast stepped forward.
"If I may?" the White Queen and Cyclops nodded, "Good. It appears that the four of them stumbled upon an underground base of some organization, whether they're against us or not, on the mansion's grounds. My guess would be they are against us, however we're unsure if they're mutant or not."
"And, they have Terra and Psysage?" asked Cyclops. Beast, Shadowcat, Charm and Inferna all nodded.
"This needs to be investigated by all of us," said Cyclops firmly.
"Dearie, I think one of us should stay behind, to watch the school. You go on ahead and have your fun." She said, and disappeared.
"Alright team, let's move out! "
Anthony groaned as he awoke with a massive headache. He didn't recognize where he was…at all. It was a dark, damp, cold room. Small…but there was some sort of bars on one side. He tried to reach out with his mind, but got a strong shock, causing him to curl up on the floor.
"Argh…I won't be trying that again for a while…" he muttered. Suddenly, a gate opened, and he tried to look towards it. A guard threw a limp body to the back of the cell, which hit the wall and then crumpled, and then slammed the gate shut again. Anthony slowly began to drag himself towards the body, little shocks of electricity still hitting him now and then. As he reached the figure, he noticed it was drenched in blood, and the breathing was very shallow. As he unraveled some of the clothing around her, he gasped as he saw it was Paige. Parts of her skin were clear of blood, and he could trace the path the tears took. He knew that Paige almost never cried, and wondered what emotional as well as physical pain they put her through. He put an arm around her, holding her securely. He would make sure they would not harm her anymore…not this time. She stirred slightly and looked up at him.
"Now I know I am dead," she said, before passing out again.
