Stranger and Stranger

Attention: Generation X and their villains, as well as any other mutant mentioned in this story, is property of Marvel Comics. The character Richard Cale is named after family relations. Any other reference to anything copyrighted is a chance happening.

Stranger and Stranger

Chapter 5: Emplate Wins

I. Angelo

Angelo Espinosa looked around the room he and Franklin Richards were stuck in. When everything went down, they ended up stuck in the exhibit room for the Bermuda Triangle. He wasn't going to admit that he was scared of the situation, but he was. The whole situation was a nightmare, or out of a bad horror movie. They had split up into groups of two to search for Richard and Yvette, and during that time Emplate had found out where they were and managed to put the place in lockdown.

He looked over the room again, taking in all the items in the exhibit, and tried to figure out which one would be the trigger in the room. There were too many to pick from, and they needed speed on their side. For a moment, he wondered if there was some way to predict where it would be, and then an idea hit him. There was a way to fix its location.

He turned to Franklin Richards, and noticed the boy looked like he was just as scared as Angelo was. This wasn't good since when scared, mutants could lose control of their abilities. He figured, however, his solution to this particular problem would both help them escape the room and calm the boy down. He calmly asked Franklin, "Hey Franklin, are you alright?"

He waited for the boy to respond, and as he figured, Franklin answered in the way he expected. "I'm scared. I mean, this whole situation is scary, and I don't want anything to happen to Richard and Yvette, but…" Angelo didn't need the boy to finish what he was saying. He felt the same way about the situation.

He put a hand on Franklin's shoulder and gave him a smile. "I completely understand. I'm scared as well, but I also know they are depending on all of us to come to their aid." He didn't want to put any more pressure on the lad, and decided not to mention that if they failed, they may never see them again.

To Franklin's credit, Angelo saw him nod, and then looked around the room to where Angelo remembered the trigger Godiva used before was. "I know we have to get out of here, but why can't we use the spot from before?" Angelo had been thinking about that, but figured it wasn't possible, at least right now.

Angelo did, however, have a plan which is why he also hoped Franklin's fear was under control. He looked back at Franklin, and said, "I had just been thinking about that. Do you remember how Godiva said the switch changes every day?" He saw the boy nod, and he then continued. "No doubt, she set things up for it to prevent it from being the same spot two times in a row. So when Emplate set-up this lock down, it switched to another spot. Now, with your ability to alter reality…"

He was actually proud when Franklin's eyes went wide as the lad thought the problem out. "I could alter things to make that switch work again." Angelo nodded, and instantly he saw Franklin close his eyes and start to focus on those powers he had. He always wondered how Franklin's powers would appear to an outside observer, and even wondered if the task might have bigger ramifications for the world at large. Would he even see anything happen at all, given the hidden mechanisms that would be affected?

It could have been his imagination, or it could have been he noticed a slight shiver come from the trigger they had seen used before. He might have actually heard the quietest of clicks as well. What he could be certain of was when Franklin said, "I've done it. Try it now." Angelo nodded and went to the trigger point and activated it.

He saw the door start to open, and said to Franklin, "Great job. Now come on and we'll find the others." He then entered the secret passage and moved to the next room door. He was about to open that door when it opened in front of him. He came face to face with Sean as he was about to step through.

Angelo was thankful his teacher didn't attack them, but he could hear the surprise in the man's voice when he uttered, "Angelo. How did ye manage to get out of the room ye and Franklin were in? We were just coming to get you."

Angelo smiled, and just motioned to Franklin, who was just getting to the door himself. Franklin gave a smile and said, "Angelo figured I could alter reality to switch the trigger back to the one we saw earlier." Angelo saw the look on Sean's face when the boy said that, and he could tell the teacher was impressed.

Sean then came through the door with Kyuukai, and he heard the Asian girl respond to that statement. "That is an impressive feat, but I imagine it was also draining to do a focused change like that."

Angelo looked at Franklin and saw that the boy nodded. For a moment, he wondered if he did the right thing by having the boy use his power in that way. Maybe if they took the time to search the room, or patience to wait for the others, they could have saved Franklin's power to get into the room where Richard and Yvette were. Still, he wanted the lad to focus in case of doing something accidentally.

He then turned to face the direction opposite from where they came from, and said, "I think that right now, we need to get to where Artie and Leech are. I can only imagine how they must be feeling right now." He saw the others nod, and he let Sean lead the way at this point. He just hoped things weren't escalating out of control, and that Emplate wasn't preparing to escape with two captives.

II. Sean

Sean Cassidy was currently living a worst-case scenario with everything that was happening right now. Even on the plane ride down here, he was worrying about Emplate having a trap set up, and it turned out he was right. He was thankful that during the short time Richard was at the school, the lad had shown a quick inventive mind, despite the trauma the lad had gone through. Even now, he was certain Richard had put several obstacles in Emplate's way. Still, he was going to give both Richard and Yvette a lecture about this once they got out of this.

He momentarily scolded himself for thinking that optimistically, since he should be mentally preparing for the worst-case scenario. He did try to teach all of the students to prepare for the worst in a battle situation. Of course, Richard going off on his own, and Yvette following was downright foolish moves for each of them. At least they would stay together, which would be a problem for Emplate.

He stopped thinking about that as they entered the Inner Earth exhibit room. The second they entered the room, he stopped and said, "Franklin, can ye keep the door open. That way we don't have to search for the switch to open it." He saw Franklin nod, looking a bit grateful for the task. He then continued into the room.

Sean wasn't surprised to see Artie and Leech come out of wherever they were hiding. Just from the looks on their faces, Sean could tell they were both scared and worried. He was glad that they were safe though. He'd hate to think how Emplate might have exploited their powers. That thought was chased from his mind, however, when Leech asked him "They still in there?"

Anyone who had spent time with the young Morlock member would take a moment to process the missing word, but he knew what the lad meant. He looked over at the door and said, "I believe so, lad. I'm betting Richard and Yvette came up with some roadblocks for Emplate's plan." He could see hope on the faces of Artie and Leech, and it helped him feel better about things.

Sean then turned his attention to the door. He was aware that Kyuukai had come over to the door as well, but he wondered if there was a way in. He could see the door required a passcode of some sort. If this was the door Emplate had used, he would have figured out or gleamed the knowledge from Godiva. In fact, he would have also set things up so he would have changed the passcode. Still, he had to wonder if it was possible to get in this door.

He turned to look at Kyuukai, but before he could ask, he heard her answer his question before he asked it. "I don't know the passcode for this door. It's part of the security measures for the room, due to an alternate purpose." For a moment, Sean could have sworn that the girl looked embarrassed. He then realized what it meant, and he wondered if Richard had figured that out long before any of them.

He was broken out of that thought when he heard Angelo let out a low whistle. After the lad was done with that whistle, he said, "Well, that's a bit freaky. I'll be honest, I wouldn't have thought that about that room. I would suggest, however, that you two change those doors so either passcode or password or whatever you want to call it working on either door in case a situation like this happens again."

He nodded in agreement with that one. "Angelo is right on that. I won't pass any judgement on what you do in there after hours, but it may have played some part in delaying Emplate's escape." He also inwardly wondered to himself how much of that he'll have to explain after all this is over. What he did know, however, is that they would need to get to the other side.

Sean activated his communicator and hoped that Emma would answer right away. "Emma, can you hear me? I need to know if Godiva is still with ye over there." He hoped that she would answer, however he had a feeling she wouldn't be answering.

This is why he wasn't surprised when another voice answered him. "She can't answer you right now. The last psychic scream knocked her out. I'm trying to trip the door, but I'm not having much luck."

It took Sean a moment to figure out who had been speaking, and he realized it was the new girl, Daria. "Daria, what do you mean by trying to trip the door?"

When he heard her response, he glanced over at Kyuukai. "Well, I'm utilizing my powers to make my fingers like wires. I'm trying to use the wires to trip the locks." Sean looked over at Kyuukai when he heard that, and he saw her shaking her head.

He sighed, and then said to Daria through the communicator, "Best to stop trying, lass. Kyuukai has just assured me that that won't work. Do you know where Godiva is, since we are over by the door that needs her password?"

To his surprise, he heard Jubilee respond to his question. "She's with us, Banshee. Unfortunately, we hit an obstacle that isn't budging." He then heard her swear under her breath.

It didn't really bother him if they swore in a situation like this. Inwardly, he was cursing this whole situation out. He then thought about how they would have to get to the room he was currently in. It meant climbing up one set of steps, and then going down another set of steps. The top of those steps was the perfect vantage point for Aura to stand guard, keeping them all apart. In fact, just as he realized it, he said, "It's Aura, isn't it."

It was then he heard Godiva's voice over the communicator. "Yes, it's the bitch. She has Everett at a standoff here. He's using two aura like hands, and from what I can tell, she's only using one. I guess she's got a lot more skill with her powers than I would have guessed." That bit of information told Sean quite a lot. While it was what they all suspected, it was a lot better than dealing with all of Emplate's thralls. It also told him that she was very effective at keeping the team separated.

He looked again at Kyuukai and asked a key question. "Do ye think you can use her password to enter the room?" He honestly hoped she could, but he wouldn't be surprised if Emplate had taken steps to change the password once they entered the room.

As if she had been having the same thoughts, he heard Kyuukai respond to his question. "Only if he didn't change the password, and if he already got the knowledge of the password from Godiva, I think it is a good bet he changed it as well." He couldn't argue the logic. He also wondered if Emplate had planned for the split to happen like it had. While he was certain there was no way Emplate could be influencing Godiva's decisions, it would not take into account how everyone else got split up.

After a moment, he heard another voice on the communicator. He was actually glad to hear it. "Sean, we may just have to have Kyuukai relay the password over the communicators. If anything happens that those two scream again, I'm betting any message will get garbled. Chamber was not in good shape after they screamed." Sean was glad to hear Emma's voice, but he didn't like the limitations of not keeping the password verbally secret.

He nodded and the second Kyuukai uttered the word, he heard a new commotion over the communicator. It sounded like the others were shouting as if something was moving them. All of a sudden, he felt his heart sink. He quickly shouted into the communicator, being mindful not to let his powers to activate, "What's goin' on?"

While he wasn't surprised, it was as he feared when another voice came over the communicator. It was so loud, he heard it echoing from the secret doorway. "What's going on, big mouth, is that I'm being you to the punch." He never noticed any echoes when the others spoke, but he never considered that the hallway had excellent acoustics.

III. Elane

Elane Bonstein had been waiting for this exact moment. She knew she would need Kyuukai's password and had been hoping that they would speak it aloud. Her lover had even told her they would most likely have to speak it out loud. So she knew what she would have to do. Besides, she was getting bored with the little challenge that the one known as Synch was giving her.

Once she heard the password echoing up to her, she made her move. Behind her wasn't a big threat, so she removed her hand from that side and she used both to push the other away from the stairway. It wasn't too hard for her. She'd been using her powers a lot longer than Synch was trying to use her abilities. She took pleasure in hearing their cries of surprise as she pushed them down the secret passage as she ran down the steps. It also afforded her a moment to taunt the headmaster of the school.

Once she was at the door to the exhibit Kyuuaki's door was in, she rushed in, letting it close behind her. To her delight, the two in there started to react to her presence instead of focusing on the door. The bug girl was running towards her, her hands now turning into metallic hammers. The other one in the room, who had to be the headmistress, was preparing to attack her apparently with a psychic attack of some sorts. It was a bit obvious at that point.

Elane just laughed, and then grabbed the headmistress with one aura hand, while quipping, "I think you should stand here for a moment." She noticed the shock on the woman's face as she moved her. It even caused her to forget about her attempted attack, especially as bug-girl slammed into her. It was just what she wanted to happen.

She ran over to the door and started to type in the password. As she did so, she momentarily glanced over at the two fallen foes. For a moment, she regretted not being into blackmail. If she had a camera on her, she would have had a perfect blackmail picture. It probably would have taken precious time to do so. She also heard movement, figuring the others were getting back to the door.

Thankfully, she had the door unlocked. She quickly ran in and closed the door behind her. As she did so, she saw her lover come over, and quickly reset the password for the door. Once that was done, she faced him, and just in his eyes, she could see he was frustrated. She put one hand on her hip and said, "What's wrong? Don't tell me they put a wrench in the plans?"

She watched as he nodded, and then responded. "Indeed. It seems Richard was able to do enough to stymie my plans. As it goes, I think this may need your personal touch to get them to tell us what we need to know to succeed." Hearing that brought a smile to her face, and she could tell Marius was pleased by that when he said, "I figured you'd enjoy that."

She nodded, and started walking over to where Richard and Yvette were restrained. As she did so, she said, "Oh yes. Some more screams I think are needed. It's playing havoc with all the psychics." As she neared, she also noticed a trail of blood on their foreheads, to which she said to Emplate, "Were you a bit peckish?"

She saw him nod and heard him respond to the question. "A little. I must admit that there is a slight difference in the taste of Richard's power from Yvette's power." Inwardly, she was a little curious about it, but decided it wasn't as important as the pain her lover inflicted on them. She then heard him say, "Unfortunately, the love between them has strengthened Yvette's own will power."

She gave a wicked smile as she neared the captives and saw the obstacle in their way. Richard and Yvette had manacled themselves together. This told her everything about the situation, but it also told her how to best attack the two to find out where the key to the manacles was. She watched as Richard and Yvette eyed her and could see some fear in their eyes.

Elane looked at the two of them, and then said "Alright. Here is what will happen. I will take turns crushing a part of each of you. This will keep up until you tell me where the key to those manacles is." She noticed that they now looked scared, but she wasn't stupid. She had already put the aura of her hand just above Yvette and lowered her hand.

The action got the exact reactions she wanted. She watched as the invisible force of her aura pushed down on Yvette's chest, obviously crushing the girl. She even had to wonder what the screams were doing to all the psychics. She also saw tears on both their faces, and soon she heard Richard give in to the pain being caused, no doubt shared in a mental link they had. She heard him respond, but she wasn't surprised when he kept it a bit cryptic. "It under the last place to sit."

She stopped her assault and smiled. "Now, was that so hard to tell us." She then stepped back pondering his words, as well as how easily he gave the information. While he had given an answer, he gave it too easily. She was actually hoping to inflict pain on both of them for a bit. It also proved that attacking them individually was the best way.

As she pondered what Richard had said, she saw her lover looking over the room. "Such a cryptic clue. One could imagine a few places to sit in here that would be the last place one would sit." She looked around the room and pondered that as well. He would have to put it somewhere that they couldn't easily access.

She was about to ask Marius where he had found them, when she heard a distinct noise. It wasn't one would hear on a regular basis, but if you got too near to certain objects, you'd hear it. She heard an electric hum, just like those that come from electric fences. She went over to the exhibit and noticed the device in the cage. The cage had to be a security measure, but she wasn't about to touch it, even with her aura. She still tried to look at the chair, and from just the right angle, she managed to spot the key. "Damn it. I figured he gave in too easily, and now I see why. He managed to toss the key so it was behind the electric chair. The only way to get it is to bend over and touch the damn thing."

She felt Marius near her after she said that, and saw he was examining the set up as well. "It seems Godiva thought this one out as well. The hum is coming from the cage as well, but not as loud. We can't risk touching the cage, especially with my respirator. However, I don't think we will have to wait for long."

She looked at him, slightly puzzled, and said, "What do you mean we won't have to wait for long?" Are you expecting something to happen that will help us?"

She was stunned when he responded, with a slight chuckle. "Why yes. I'm expecting Generation X to shut off the power. It will be the only way to reset the doors. In that time, we can rush in the cage, get the key, and escape with our prize. However, we need to get some barricades in place."

Elane then realized what Marius meant. Generation X would have to shut off the power to get past the doors, taking out the last obstacle in their path. She nodded, and started barricading the doors, figuring that not all of them would go running to the control panels. As she worked to barricade the doors, she also heard both Richard and Yvette were starting to struggle. They knew their time was limited, and that all their obstacles were for nothing.

IV. Everett

Everett quickly recovered from the attack they had all been victimized by. When he had returned with Jubilee after helping get Jonothan as far away from the screams as possible, he joined the others trying to get to the other side. He had not anticipated that Aura was that powerful with her ability, but he should have known better. Even from his brief time accessing her ability, he figured she could do something like that. He just didn't expect it to be so powerful.

He then got up, and as he did so, he started to help the others up, the first one being Jubilation. As he was helping her up, she said something that caught him a little off guard. She was obviously flustered by this turn of events, but even that didn't make him expect what she said. "I'm beginning to wish we were dealing with Sabretooth."

He looked at her as they helped the others get up. After the whole Phalanx situation, he had heard her talk about how dangerous Sabretooth was. In fact, she had told him how he had almost killed her, and how Sabretooth had been close to killing Bishop. He honestly didn't think she would ever want to face him, so he asked the question. "Why do wish that? I thought you were scared of facing him."

She looked at him with a look that told him that he should have thought of the answer. "Because we have tons of information regarding Sabretooth. Aura we know bupkis about. We really didn't get a lot of time to question Skitz about Aura. Plus, we know nothing about what she's been up to. Besides, we suspected she'd be out of commission after we figured she was helping Emplate."

In all honesty, she was right. He overestimated himself in his ability to use Aura's powers. He thought he could combat her, but she demonstrated she had more control over her ability than he thought. He had been learning how to use everyone else's powers and been finding out some things about those powers. He was also trying to figure out how some of those powers were replicated by his own mutant aura, and if it was possible to replicate all the abilities he came across.

He was brought out of those thoughts when Sean's voice came over the communicator. "Is everyone alright? Is anyone injured?" Everett could hear the concern in his teacher's voice. That worried him as he looked around at the others. Everyone there had finally gotten up and were flashing the thumbs up. No doubt, Aura didn't want to waste time making sure they were hurt.

He spoke into his communicator, and said, "We are alright here. Just a little shaken up. How's everybody with you, Banshee?" He was worried about the others that weren't with them.

To his relief, Sean answered his question in a way that was good. "Everyone with me is alright. My big concern is Emma and Daria. They aren't responding, and I don't want to leave the others alone, just in case." Everett completely understood on that one. When they had split up, all the young kids ended up on that side of the museum.

Everett saw everyone was up and ready, so he responded, "Don't worry. We're on our way over there." He motioned to the others, and they all rushed back to the room they had left Emma and Daria in. He hoped that they weren't hurt or worse. They would have been more of an obstacle to Aura than his group was.

To his dismay, as they approached the door, it was closed. That meant they would have to trigger the door again. He wasn't sure if it was part of the design of the system or not, but even some of these doors had a puzzle on them. He sighed and said, "Godiva, can you quickly open the door this time?"

Before Godiva stepped forward, he saw Monet step forward and say, "Allow me." He then watched, a bit amazed, as she worked on the puzzle with amazing speed. In fact, he wasn't sure if any time had passed by the time she solved it and the door opened. She then stepped in the doorway to hold it open as she said, "Speed was of the essence."

Everett couldn't argue that, and he led the rest into the room, only to stop in surprise at what they saw. The room wasn't overly damaged, but in one corner of the room, far from the door to the Inhumanities Exhibit, Daria and Emma were on the floor almost in a compromising position. He had a feeling that Daria might have tried to delay Aura but Aura used Emma as a shield.

Some of the group rushed over to help Emma and Daria up, while a few others went with Godiva to the door. He went with the group over to Emma and Daria and helped get them back on their feet. He could tell Emma was a bit more lightheaded than Daria was, no doubt due to all the psychic screams.

As they got the two to their feet, he heard Monet ask the question he figured was in part on all their minds. "What happened to you two?" He took notice for a second that Monet seemed the least fazed by the psychic attacks. He also thought that her father was a little concerned when looking at Monet.

He watched as Emma was rubbing her side as she responded. "Aura decided to use me as a means to deflect Daria's attack. I'm hoping that those sledgehammer hands didn't break my ribs."

He then heard Daria say in response, "When she pulled you into my path, I started morphing them back to normal. Hopefully they didn't do that." He then saw her look over at the door, and say, "You don't think Aura has the door blocked, do you?"

To his dismay, he heard Godiva respond to the question. "She doesn't need to. The password was changed. This is definitely not good. They've gotten around the password issue, but we still have one last trick. Hopefully, the layout of the room will work in our favor."

At that point, Everett heard Sean over the communicator again. "What's this last trick, and why didn't we use it earlier?" He wondered the same thing but given who had been initially in the rooms these doors were in, it made sense not to try it first. True, before they weren't entirely certain if Aura was there or not, and everyone was all separate, but now that everyone was together, they could have tried that first, or been ready once they realized Aura was in the way.

He heard Godiva answer the question, and she sounded a bit upset for not thinking about it first. "There are two emergency situations. The one they activated is a failsafe for an internal threat and keeping the problem located to one room. The other is the emergency evacuation situation. In situations like a natural disaster or fire, the system is set to shut down power to the doors, deactivate the password options, and shut down all unnecessary items."

He then heard Kyuukai speak over the communicators, and something she said made him do a double take. "Yes, it switches to the smaller generator we have. We work on main power, as well as a generator so it doesn't pull on the electric grid. Godiva has an actual working electric chair in that room, but it's always kept at lower power, just in case."

He heard Jubilation respond to that and she probably spoke all their thoughts at the moment. "Wait a minute. That thing in there was genuine. It's a good thing Emplate didn't know that or used it at all. I don't want to think about what that would have done to them."

He was stunned when Godiva responded to the statement. "I wasn't thinking that that bastard was using it. I think my cousin finagled something with it. If he figured out how to max out its output, he might have done something to use it as a security measure. That's why I didn't want to mention this option."

He looked over at Emma and said, "To be honest, Skitz most likely did something like that. If Emplate and Aura are aware of that as well, or figured out what he did, the shutdown would basically hand them over. We'll have to be ready to rush in once this is activated."

At that moment, a different voice came over the communicator. To his chagrin, it was Paige, and he had completely forgotten about her and Jono. "Chamber and I can handle that. Just tell us how to get to the security room from the Lobby, and we'll let you know when we are about to hit the button." Everett thought that was a good plan, and as the directions to the security console were given, he took that moment to tell some of the others to get over with Sean and Kyuukai.

V. Paige

Paige Guthrie had listened very carefully to Godiva directions, since she knew how much was on the line with what they were about to do. Once she had it down, she looked at Jono and saw that he was now able to move. When Jubilee and Everett had left to return to the others, he was already starting to recover. It was a positive thing in all the chaos.

Once she started to move, he was at her side, and that made Paige feel good. As the moved, she heard his voice in her head, and it sounded stronger than it had been before. "Did you catch everything you had to do?" She nodded, and then pushed a button causing the stairway that led to the security area to lower. Godiva had hinted that this generator was in a basement.

As they headed down the steps, she decided to voice her concern. "Chamber, Ah hope we are able to save them doing this. Ah'd hate to think that we are helping Emplate achieve his goal." She then shook her head and added, "As well as feeling we are betraying Skitz and Penance."

As they entered the area, Paige noticed there were other exhibit items for the museum in there. She knew they would have to head through the room, since the generator room was towards the back. As they passed the various items, she heard some words of comfort from Jono. "I'm sure we'll succeed. Everyone is ready to barge in there, so it shouldn't allow Emplate and Aura to escape with them."

She nodded, but when she reached the door to where the generator was, she paused when she thought of Emplate's one ability. "Not if Emplate phases them out of synch with our dimension. That ability of his allows him to be able to sneak by all of us. How can we stop that?"

To her surprise, Jono had an answer. "I think if Synch uses his aura to link to Skitz's ability, he might be able to detect Emplate in the same way Skitz did when Emplate's out of synch with our dimension. Either that or he gets in synch with Emplate. It would be risky, but it might be our best way of catching Emplate if he uses that trick." She had to admit, that was a very plausible idea.

As they entered the generator room, another thought crossed her mind. She looked at Jono for a moment, and said, "Chamber, do you think Mondo has a crush on Daria? I mean, he did want to get back to where she was."

As they got over to the generator, she heard him respond to her question. "Of course. He's a little more upbeat than he usually is when he looks at her. I also noticed some traits you had before we started dating." She paused when she heard that. She didn't realize that men showed some of the same signs of a crush like women did.

She got to the generator unit, and looked at the controls that were on it, while responding to that statement. "When this is over, maybe we should try to get them on a date. Just to add something positive to this whole fiasco."

She then looked over the unit and noticed a few warning lights were lit. They had already suspected that, but this was just confirming it. She then spotted the reset button, and went to press it, but stopped. She wanted to be sure everyone was ready before she pressed that button. She quickly activated her communicator, and said, "Ah'm at the generator, and I'm ready to push the button. Is everyone ready?"

She paused, waiting for the response. Each second felt like an eternity, and it even meant that Emplate and Aura could be making things harder for them to get through the doors. Of course, she even considered the fact that Skitz and Penance might panic the second they deactivated the power. If they did, it could create more problems for them.

Soon, she heard a response from the comms unit. "Alright Husk, we are all in position. Push the button, and keep an eye on Chamber, just in case." Paige pressed the button, and the unit shut down. It was accompanied by the lights dimming for a moment. She also noticed that Jono had started to collapse, but she ran to his side to help him. Now she just hoped everything would work out. She really didn't want to feel like she failed the team.

VI. Darrett

Darrett was in serious trouble. He was inches away from the artifact, knowing all he needed to do was grab the item. His mother, who was now dead, had told him that much from what they had learned. He just wasn't sure if he would have the chance to get at it in time.

To his surprise, he saw the look on Richard Cale's face change, almost as if he was in shock at what he saw. It was as if he had never seen it before as he spoke with almost reverence at what he was seeing. "The Ouroboros. A relic that is supposed to be fused with time altering magic."

The words had an effect on the situation, one that completely surprised him. When Richard Cale said that, he saw a look of confusion first cross Yvette's face. It was then replaced with rage, as if she had just realized something. It was at that point he saw the crazed redhead drop his mother and lash out at Richard Cale. The figure then started to change, becoming rather featureless. It had been another mutant, one that could shapeshift. He also saw another figure enter the room. It was the real Richard Cale, and he realized what was about to happen.

He took the moment fate had allowed him and dove for the magical item. As he did that, he heard the real Richard Cale shout, "Stop him. He'll destroy everything." He grabbed it as he heard the others start to move towards him. He only had one thought on his mind. He had to stop the moment they came about.

Soon, there was a flash of bright light, and a moment of disorientation. He even felt like his stance was changing. He never really heard what it felt like to travel through time, most likely because the list of known time travelers was gone by the time he reached this moment. They had been some of the first to fall when the world went to hell.

As a momentary wave of nausea hit him, the world finally came into focus, and he was now in a dimly lit room. He heard people moving, and by the sounds, they were putting up barricades. They had, however stopped, and he heard a male voice say through something, "They just shut off the power. Elane, get the key while I unhook Richard and Yvette." Darrett realized where he was, and he quickly sprang into action. He had to stop this from happening and prevent the dark time he was from.

VII. Richard

The second the lights dimmed; Richard Cale knew their time was up. He had even heard Emplate tell Elane to get the key. No doubt the barricades would cause enough of a delay for Emplate to escape with them. He glanced to his side, and he could tell Yvette was alarmed by what was happening. No doubt to him that she had picked up on his own anxiety and fear. "He's going to capture us, isn't he?"

He felt the fear in her thoughts and responded. "It looks that way. I'm sorry I caused us to get caught here. I shouldn't have left the group earlier. I was just worked up, and…" He couldn't continue the thought. He had let them get captured, and all his plans weren't enough. His own stupid action led to this fate.

He then heard in his mind words of comfort. "There is still a chance. They know where his place is. We just have to hold out. We still have to have hope." He knew she was right. As long as they had their mental bond, they were safe since it meant he still had her power. It would be harder when that bond was gone. No doubt Emplate would separate them.

He almost headed down that mental path when he heard a sound. It sounded like someone was being struck. He hadn't heard the doors open, but that sound seemed to change something in the room. He even heard Emplate exclaim "What? Who are you?" This started to raise questions in his own mind. Did some other mutant somehow come to their rescue?

Soon, he heard one of the doors being forced open. It was obvious that he wasn't the only one who heard it as he heard another exclamation come from Emplate. "Damn it. I don't know who you are, but you've made a dangerous enemy today." No doubt Emplate was going to flee now. Richard didn't think he'd stick around once the doors were fully opened, depending on how Emplate's ability worked, but he wasn't about to find out.

As the doors were forced open, he and Yvette finally saw their savior. It had been a teen, most likely in his mid-teens. The boy looked African in decent, but he didn't focus long on that. He noticed the look in the boy's eyes, and he saw a hatred in them. He wasn't sure why that was, but it scared him.

He noticed that Yvette saw it as well, and he could feel the fear in her as she said in the mental link, "If this is the person who saved us, why does he look like he wants to kill us?" He wished he had an answer for that, and he knew his power wasn't going to latch on to this new arrival. However, before anything else could be done, he heard the doors give way, and everyone rushed in. Still, he wasn't certain everything was right. In fact, everything about the moment just caused him to pass out, and he even felt Yvette go out as well.

VIII. Sean

Sean Cassidy led his group into the room and was surprised by what he was seeing. He had mentally prepared himself for the worst outcome, but to see that Richard and Yvette were still there lifted his heart. He didn't see Emplate or Aura, but he did notice the young man glaring at the two. He wasn't sure who this new arrival was, but he had a feeling he had done something to scare off Emplate and Aura.

The young man noticed him, and backed away from the two captives, holding his hands up. As he did so, he heard the new person say, "I just arrived, and I managed to fend off the attackers." Sean inwardly sensed the truth, and also suspected something about this stranger.

He then saw the other door open, seeing the others enter the room, getting past the remains of the blockade. As the others entered, he noticed that they were all relieved to see Richard and Yvette, and he also noticed that Godiva was picking up something that was on the floor.

He went over to the two then, and he could tell something wasn't right. They looked like they had gone unconscious, and he wondered what had happened to them that caused that. Had Emplate done something to them before he got thwarted. There had to be an answer. He then started to free them from the device they were on.

As he worked on that, he heard others arrive, and it was Paige's voice that broke the silence. "Did we get to them in time? Were we successful?" He heard the concern in her voice, but then heard the relief when she saw them. "Thank goodness. Ah was scared we would be too late when we got up here." He wasn't sure where the girl was looking, but he figured she had caught sight of the new arrival when she said, "Who is that?"

Sean didn't want to focus on that, but he said, "One thing at a time, Paige. Emma, could you come over here." He waited until he saw her by his side. It was at this time when Godiva had gotten over to them with what had to be the key to the manacles that Richard must have put on him and Yvette.

He glanced at Emma but could already tell she knew what he wanted her to do. Given the state of the two, she was forgoing her promise to Richard, figuring the lad would understand. It wasn't long before she said, "It's not good. They've both gone into psychic shock. This situation was way too close a call for them both. We are going to need to get them to the X-Men."

He nodded, and then looked over at the stranger in the room. As he did so, he said, "I agree. I also think we should bring our new arrival along. Seems he saved the day, but I have an odd feeling that he's not local." At this time, everyone seemed to be focused on the new arrival. He could tell there was a sense of both gratitude and suspicion in the group for this person.

If anyone had to break the silence, he was partially glad it was Jubilation. While she was the most seasoned of all the students, she also tended to be the optimist of the group. She also seemed to pick up on something he already suspected. "Hey, he arrived at just the right moment. I'm guessing a good guy time traveler."

He nodded, and with that, he knew what they had to do. He was thankful that Godiva and Kyuukai were helping with getting Richard and Yvette out. It worried him how much this situation would play on both of their minds. He had a feeling that they might not be the same after this, especially with all the trauma Richard had been through since joining the school and team.

He did try to look on the positive side over all this. Knowing about how one place could be pro-mutant to the point that they can live together in harmony, proof that Xavier's dream was possible. It was also good to gain allies like Godiva and Kyuukai, and that they were aware of their powers. He also wondered if Kyuukai's powers might be beneficial in some ways. He might have to talk that over with Emma later.

Once they were ready to go, he saw Cartier St. Croix watching with a concerned look on his face. Sean walked over to him and calmly said, "I know this was a hell of situation, but I'm hoping they will all be fine. This isn't the first time we've had to deal with yur son."

He heard Cartier sigh, and then heard him respond to the statement. "I know. It's just I didn't know that things stood the way they are now." He saw Cartier shake his head, feeling that there was more to know than Cartier was about to let on. He wasn't overly surprised since the St. Croix family seemed to have a whole host of secrets.

He was about to head to the vehicle when Cartier then said something that surprised him. "Keep an Eye on Monet, in case she has one of her spells. If she does, try to get her out of it as quickly as possible. And don't let Richard's parents know about this, at least not yet." That last bit surprised him. He wasn't going to tell them, and he was certain Godiva wasn't about to tell them, since Richard wanted his visit to be kept from them.

He nodded, but then said to Cartier, "Don't worry. Right now, we need to make sure they are alright, and get some information about our mystery savior here. However," he paused and looked Cartier in the eye, "I think we will need to speak about all the secrets. Learning about Monet and Marius were things we should have been informed about." He saw Cartier nod in agreement, and Sean then headed to the vehicle. They had to get to the X-Mansion and do so as quickly as possible.

The End.

Author's note

If you have been following my stuff, you know that I have been working on rewriting The Cale Storyline. This is the final chapter of the fourth story, Stranger And Stranger. When I first planned this story, I had an initially different idea, and then went with this as I struggled to plan that one out. I then had planned to write a story that led into an epic five-part story arc, one that would undo the initial ending to this story. Just like the previous story, this one nearly doubled in size, and part of that was due to including the parts featuring the character Darrett, as well as incorporating details that were added in with later stories. I do hope you've been enjoying this rewrite, and that the next rewrite shouldn't take as long as this one did.