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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 9, 2020 15:17:12 GMT -5
I was very disappointed in the New Mutants movie when it finally came out, especially how it butchered certain characters, but also with the way the story was told and the way many elements were handled. I have done a complete rewrite of the entire film, following the same basic plot but with numerous changes big and small.
Without further ado, here is part 1 of my New Mutants film rewrite.
Danielle Moonstar was nearly tossed from her bed as the ground shook.
Dani had been having a nightmare which tormented her sleep and kept her tossing and turning, but the reality to which she woke was even worse than her dream had been.
She peered out of her window. The trailer home next to hers was engulfed in flames while a loud rumbling noise reverberated through the entire camp.
"What's going on?" she screamed in terror.
Her father entered the trailer and grabbed her by the arm.
"We have to run!" he yelled at her.
The pure horror on her father's face and in his voice filled Dani with an even greater dread. William Lonestar was a leader in their small community, a pillar of strength and stability not only for Dani but for so many others. If he was panicked, then things were truly dire.
Dani barely had time to grab her necklace before her father was pulling her out of the trailer.
"Don't let go of my hand!" he yelled as they left their mobile home for the last time an entered what could only be described as a hellscape.
A blizzard was raging and fires were blazing in every direction. Everywhere people were in a panic, screaming, running, and honking their car horns, desperate to escape.
Dani and her father had barely gotten forty feet from their trailer when it exploded behind them. She turned around and watched as the only home she had ever known went up in flames.
At that moment, the rumbling noise was replaced by a deep, ear-splitting roar.
Dani wanted to scream, but her voice failed her as a car which had attempted to flee the pandemonium flew over their heads and landed with a sickening crunch, crushing the driver and killing him instantly.
Her father led her out of the camp and into the woods. She found her voice again now that they were seemingly out of immediately danger.
"What's happening?" she begged.
Her father did not answer. Instead he led her to a large tree with a crevice at its base large enough to sit in.
"Here," he instructed her, his voice shaking so much he could barely get the words out. "Hide here."
Dani obeyed without question. The hole was just large enough for one person to sit.
"Stay here," her father commanded. "I have to go help them," he told her.
Dani grabbed his arm. "No, no. Dad please, please don't leave me."
He pulled her into a hug. "Dani, I have to go back."
He didn't have to explain. He was a leader, with a responsibility to the community as a whole, not just to her.
"Stay here," he said, his voice sounding calm for the first time. Now that his daughter was as safe as she could be, he could accept his fate.
Dani huddled in the tree crevice, shivering from both cold and fright as the screams and loud noises from the camp continued.
Something flew through the air and landed in front of Dani, and she beheld her father, his body broken, his eyes staring up at nothing.
She ran.
Something behind her growled as she raced through the forest and down the hill. As she turned her head to look at what was chasing her, she tripped on a root and began to tumble, rolling down the hill until she finally came to a stop at the bottom.
The last thing she heard as her consciousness faded was a soft but terrifying growl.
The sound of something banging into metal woke Dani up.
Something was in the air vent above her, staring down at her. Dani couldn't get a good look, but whatever was staring at her seemed both human and not at the same time. She lifted up her head and gaped at this strange sight, but as soon as she moved the creature scurried off, moving more like an animal than a person.
Dani tried to rub her head, but her hand would not reach far enough. It was then that she noticed that she was handcuffed to the bed she was lying in.
She looked around. She seemed to be in a hospital room and wearing a white hospital gown, but there was on one else there. She got up and dragged her bed with her, unable to move more than a foot away from it due to the handcuffs.
She looked out of the heavily barred window and saw a church across a large yard. There was still no sign of life anywhere she looked.
Dani moved the bed back to where it was before and glanced around the room. She spotted a security camera pointed directly at her in the corner of the ceiling.
"Hello?" she asked
When there was no response, she pulled the bed towards the doors to the room, only to find them locked shut.
"Open up!" she yelled, pulling frantically on the doors.
An intercom turned on, and Dani heard a female voice tell her to "calm down."
"I'm on my way to you," the voice continued. The intercom turned off, and Dani hear the sound of a very large metal door closing.
As she peaked through the small glass window in the door Dani saw a tall blonde woman in a white doctor's coat approach.
Dani banged on the door. "Where am I? Where's my family?" she demanded.
The woman stopped in front of the door and looked down at Dani with a look of sympathy.
"I know you're scared," she said in a reassuring tone, "but you're safe now. If you let me come in, I'll explain everything."
Dani nodded slowly and began to back away from the door. The latches on the door came undone and the woman stepped into the room.
She closed the door and the latches immediately snapped shut again. "My name is Doctor Emma Frost. It's a pleasure to meet you, Danielle."
Emma nodded at the handcuff. "If you sit down, I'll uncuff you."
Dani sat down on the bed and Emma took out a key to undo the handcuffs.
"What I'm about to tell you is going to be very difficult for you to hear," she explained in a manner which showed she did not want to have to say the words which were to follow.
"An F-5 tornado touched down on your reservation. You were the only survivor."
Dani leaned back and began to shake her head in horror. "No…"
"This was a terrible tragedy," Emma continued, "but…"
"Nonono!" Dani protested, flashing back to the moment she was running through the woods.
"It was growling!" she said loudly. "I could hear it roaring!"
"Sometimes our memories can play tricks on us," Emma said, "especially with such a traumatic event as this. What you heard was the sound of the tornado, nothing more."
Emma put something in Dani's hand. "This is yours, isn't it?"
Dani looked down at the small object, a carving of a bear.
Emma gave Dani a blanket and led her out of the room into the building's lobby, where Dani sat down on a couch and held her knees to her chest while wrapping herself in the blanket.
"Why didn't I die with them?" Dani asked softly.
"Survivor's guilt is a common reaction to this kind of event," Emma assured her. "You didn't do anything to be ashamed of."
"You survived … because you're special," she declared.
Dani stared at her, and Emma smiled.
"Do you know what mutants are?"
Dani nodded, and Emma continued. "Mutation most often occurs at puberty. You might spend the first 13 years of your life relatively normal. And just like that, you come of age and discover your true nature."
"And … what's my true nature?" Dani asked.
Emma took Dani's hand. "That is what we have to figure out together."
"What if you're wrong? What if I'm not a … a mutant?" Dani pressed. "How can you be sure?"
"The man I work for has a way of identifying new mutants the moment their powers first manifest. That's how we found you, and your fellow patients."
Dani's mouth hung open with an unasked question, and Emma smiled. "You're not alone, Danielle."
Emma led Dani into another with of the hospital. "This is a facility for young mutants like yourself. Teens who need a little help and care before they can go on to live productive adult lives."
They arrived at a room that could only be called a cell, with a bunk for a bed and a toilet and sink in the corner. Emma pointed out the change of clothes lying on the bed and the other amenities.
Dani turned to her and asked: "how long do I have to stay here?"
Emma's expression turned serious. "Until we decide you're not dangerous."
"Dangerous to who?" Dani pressed.
"Yourself," Emma said softly. She put her hand on Dani's shoulder. "I know this is a lot to take in. Get some rest, and we'll talk more in the morning."
Dani sat down on the bed, and Emma turned to leave.
"Dr. Frost?" she asked. Emma stopped at the door to the cell and looked back at her. "There's really no one else?"
Emma shook her head. "I'm afraid not. But don't worry. You're in a safe place now. Nothing can hurt you here, I promise."
With that, she closed the door, locking Dani inside her new room for the night.
Dani looked up at the ceiling. There was another camera pointed directly at her, exactly like the one in the room where she first woke up.
The next day, Emma was sitting in a circle of chairs along with four teenagers.
"Yesterday, I asked you to talk about the first time your powers manifested," Emma began. "Is anyone more willing to share today?"
When there was no response, she turned to the person sitting on her right. "Sam?"
Sam Guthrie was a tall boy. His unkempt dirty blonde hair stuck out of his baseball cap and his swollen eye and sling-bound arm attested to the injuries he had received recently.
Rather than respond, Sam simply looked down.
"Illyana?"
Illyana Rasputin was a short but good-looking girl with long blonde hair. She raised the hand-puppet she was holding, a doll of a small, purple dragon, and shook its head to show her refusal to answer.
"Roberto?"
Roberto Da Costa was a strong, good-looking Afro-Latino boy with a confident posture, but he simply twiddled his thumbs in response.
"Rahne?"
Rahne Sinclair was a small girl with short red hair and a diminutive posture. Alone of the four, she shook her head to show her unwillingness to answer.
"Look," Emma said, not trying to hide her frustration, "we've been over this before. We can't help you if you don't talk to us."
"Who's us?" Illyana asked in a Russian accent. She opened and closed the mouth of her dragon puppet twice.
Emma narrowed her eyes as she looked at Illyana. "All of us here," she said in a calmer tone. "The point of this program is for you to open up not just to me, but to your peers and help each other."
She turned to Rahne. "Why don't you start?"
Rahne opened her mouth. "I … "
She stopped as the door opened with a creak and Dani walked in.
Emma smiled. "Please join us, Danielle."
She addressed the group. "Everyone, this is our newest patient, Danielle Moonstar."
Roberto chuckled. He stopped as Dani glared at him and Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Oh," he said, looking between them. "You were serious."
"Let's try to make Danielle feel at home," Emma said as Dani took the last extra seat.
Dani glanced around the room. Sam nodded at her to acknowledge her existence. Illyana was not paying attention and was pretending that her dragon puppet was talking to her. Roberto grinned at her. And Rahne was staring at her intently.
"Rahne, would you care to start?" Emma asked.
Rahne looked startled and looked away from Dani.
"Oh, right," she said in a thick Scottish accent. "I was 13. I remember running through the woods."
"And how did you feel?" Emma asked.
"Free," Rahne answered, "like I'd never felt so free in my whole life." She took a deep breath before continuing. "But guilty too."
"And why did you feel guilty?" Emma asked.
Rahne looked down. "Because I knew it was wrong. I went to Reverend Craig to see if he could pray it out of me. He asked me to show him, so I … changed."
She stopped, the memories too painful to continue.
"And what did Reverend Craig do then?" Emma pressed.
Rahne closed her eyes. "He beat me half to death. He said I as a witch, that I was going to hell."
Illyana suddenly stood up angrily and began to walk out.
"Thank you for volunteering, Illyana," Emma said.
"Volunteering for what?" Illyana asked.
"To show Danielle around."
Illyana rolled her eyes at Dani. "And why do I have to?"
"Because I'm asking you to," Emma answered.
Illyana scoffed and motioned for Dani to follow her.
"See you later, girls!" Roberto yelled after them as they left.
Dani followed closely behind Illyana.
"How long have you been here?" she asked as they waked down a flight of stairs. "Are there any other doctors here? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Illyana stopped at the bottom of the staircase and held the dragon doll to her ear.
"You're right, Lockheed," she told the doll. "She does talk a lot."
Dani gaped at her with an expression of complete bewilderment.
Illyana led her to the front door, which like most of the rooms in the hospital was bolted shut.
"Dr. Fro-ost!" Illyana called out, motioning with her free hand at the nearest security camera.
The latches came undone and Illyana made a gesture similar to a salute before pushing the doors open.
As soon as they were outside Illyana began to quickly list off the sites.
"Main building," she said, gesturing behind them. She pointed to their right. "The chapel, if you're into that sort of thing. And this is the garden. That just about covers it."
"Gee, thanks for the tour," Dani said sarcastically.
Illyana turned around to face Dani. "So, what's your power?"
"I don't know," Dani answered.
Illyana looked disappointed for a moment and turned her attention to the stone angel statue in the center of the garden. She found a can of purple spray-paint next to the statue and began to spray the bottom of the stone structure.
Dani continued to stare at her.
"Are all mutants like …" she began.
Illyana looked up at her. "Like what?"
"Like you," Dani finished.
For the first time, Illyana grinned, baring her teeth like a predator on the hunt. "There is no one like me."
Dani looked to the side and rolled her eyes. "That's for sure."
Her eyes began to scan the grounds. "Where are we?"
"Nowhere," Illyana answered, focusing again on her 'art.' "Dr. Frost says the nearest town is 20 miles away, but she could be lying."
"There's no fence," Dani observed.
"No, no fence," Illyana agreed. "Fences couldn't keep mutants inside."
Dani took a deep breath and darted forward, running as fast as she could across the grounds. She was so focused on reaching her freedom that she did not hear what Illyana said as she ran past her or notice a four-legged creature running in pace with her far to the side.
She had run the length of a football when she suddenly slammed into something face-first and fell on her back.
Dani moaned in pain. She slowly raised her hand and wiped her nose, which was bleeding from the unexpected impact. She looked up. There was nothing there, only a few hundred feet between her and the woods.
That nothing had nearly broken her nose.
Dani slowly pushed herself to her feet and put her hand to the invisible wall. As soon as she touched it, the barrier began to glow a yellow-orange color, revealing its existence.
She heard Illyana's voice behind her. "I told you, didn't I? Fences can't keep mutants in. So they had to find another way."
Dani turned to look at Illyana in horror as she laid out the truth of her situation.
"This isn't a hospital. It's a cage. And now you're trapped in it with the rest of us."
Dani had a million questions, but her first one was "why?"
Illyana did not answer. She stared past Dani with narrow eyes focused on the woods beyond the barrier.
Dani looked in the direction Illyana was staring at. Far off in the woods, something was looking back at them and growling lightly, but it was too far away and obscured by the trees for Dani to see or hear.
"What are you looking at?" Dani asked. Illyana did not seem to hear her.
"Hello? What's wrong with you?" Dani demanded. She reached out to grab her, but her hand only grabbed air.
For as Dani reached out, Illyana fell straight down as if the earth had swallowed her whole.
Dani looked all around, but Illyana was nowhere to be seen. She collapsed to her knees and screamed.
Dani knelt there all alone for some time until the bell began to ring at the chapel, marking the turn of the hour. She picked herself up and slowly made her way to the source of the sound.
Tears began to flow down Dani's cheeks as she stared up at the large clock on the chapel's façade.
"Dad, you're in heaven, while I'm stuck here in hell."
She climbed to the top of the chapel, where she kicked out several of the wooden planks from the chapel clock and climbed out onto the ledge.
Dani looked down. It was a drop of over 50 feet. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"What are you doing up here?"
Dani gasped and nearly fell. She turned her head to see Rahne peaking out from the new hole in the clock.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Rahne looked down. "Wow. We are really high up. A fall from here would mess you up pretty badly."
"It would kill me instantly," Dani responded in a surprisingly calm tone. "I wouldn't feel a thing."
"I want to get out of this place too," Rahne said. "But not like this."
Dani began to cry again. "My home is gone. Everyone I've ever known is dead. This is the only way I can see them again."
"Y'know," Rahne said, "where I'm from, suicide is considered a one-way ticket to hell. That's always scared me out of trying it."
"I don't want to be here!" Dani yelled. "I want to be with my family…"
"Did you ever think, maybe you're alive for a reason?"
"I'm all alone. There's nobody left."
"Well, that's mean," Rahne said, causing Dani to stare at her. "There are two people up here. I'm not nobody."
She smiled and held out her hand. "It's going to get better. I promise."
Dani looked down one more time before taking her hand. Rahne pulled her back inside the chapel and smiled.
"Let's live a little longer, Danielle Moonstar."
Emma was waiting for them when they approached the main entrance.
"And where have you two been?"
Dani began to answer, but Rahne cut her off. "I was just showing her the chapel."
"Thank you, Rahne." Emma turned to Dani. "Suicide is not part of our program. I'd appreciate it if you at least gave us a chance to help you before considering that option."
"How'd you know?" Dani asked.
Emma pointed to a camera on the wall of the building. "We monitor you at all times, for your own safety."
She turned to Rahne. "Can I trust you to keep her out of trouble for the rest of the day?"
"Of course."
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a private session to get to."
Emma passed Roberto and Sam in the hall.
"Two guys, three girls, one of them a hot blonde, I think I'm starting to like it here," Roberto said.
"I guess you would," Sam responded in a thick Kentucky accent.
"You wanna go play a board game or something?"
"No. I gotta practice."
Illyana was staring out of the window when Emma entered the room. Emma gestured a chair which was placed next to a machine.
"Please, have a seat."
Illyana sat down and Emma began to attach the device to her right arm and several of her fingers.
"What's this?"
"It's a polygraph," Emma answered. "A lie detector."
Illyana nodded and looked at her fingers. "Do you do this with all your patients?"
"No. There's no need with the others. You, on the other hand, present several unique problems."
When she had finished setting up the machine Emma sat down herself near the results.
"I'm going to ask you a control question. I want you to lie to make sure that the machine is working properly.
"Are you the president of the United States?"
"Yes," Illyana said. "I'm also the empress of Russia and the King of France."
Emma glanced down at the results, which showed that Illyana was indeed lying.
"Well, your majesty, would you care to tell me your real name?"
Illyana looked at her in surprise. "Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina, same as it's always been."
Emma frowned as the polygraph detected no lie.
"Are you a ghost, Miss Rasputin?"
Illyana reached up and poked her cheek twice with her finger. "I seem real enough."
"Then why does it seem that you don't exist?"
Illyana leaned her head back. "What does that even mean?"
"Every person has a record of their existence. A birth certificate. A social security number. Medical records. School transcripts. Accounts in their name. Every person on earth has a line of documents proving they exist. Everyone except for you.
"My superior and I have been searching for your records. But despite all his resources, there's nothing to be found. It's as if you just popped into existence one day. Now why is that?"
Illyana titled her head and looked up at Emma. "What sort of resources does this superior of yours have?"
Emma grinned. "Nice try, but I am the one asking the questions."
Illyana assumed a more relaxed pose and smiled back. "All the documents which 'prove my existence' are out there. You and your superior are just not looking in the right places."
The polygraph continued to show that she was telling the truth.
"And where should we be looking?"
Illyana gave her a wicked half-grin. "I've never looked for them myself."
Emma looked down at the polygraph results again and frowned. "Very well. It seems we'll just have to try a little harder. At least I can say you're not here under an alias."
Illyana raised the hand which was attached to the polygraph. "Maybe next time you can be the one strapped to the machine. I'd like to find out if you're a ghost."
Rahne and Dani watched as Sam walked into the basketball court and attached a harness to himself. The harness was connected by a thick metal chain to a large concrete block.
Dani could not believe her eyes as Sam's arms began to vibrate faster than she could see. Soon his entire body was vibrating, and within seconds, he took off.
"Holy shit. I thought he just exploded," Dani exclaimed as Sam flew in circles over their heads.
"That's his thing," Rahne explained. "He blasts off like a cannonball."
Sam hit the ground a few times, causing Rahne to wince. "He's not so good at the landing part though."
"Is this practice?" Dani asked.
"He works the hardest of anyone here to get his power under control. But sometimes, it just seems like he's just trying to hurt himself."
Rahne and Dani entered the cafeteria when dinnertime came. Roberto was preparing the food, bopping his head back and forth as he listened to a song on his headset.
Sam was already eating, looking glum as he sat alone and attempted to eat with just his fork.
"Sam comes from a small town in Kentucky," Rahne said. "He had to drop out of school to work in the mines with his dad in order to support his family."
"Wow," Dani said. "Poor guy."
"I know. And then there's Roberto," Rahne said in a derisive tone as they went to get their food.
"Hello, ladies," Roberto said, still bopping his head as he handed them their food trays.
"His family's like the richest in Brazil," Rahne explained as they walked about. "He was living like a king before he came here. Something must have gone really wrong, so his parents sent him here to be cured."
"Is there a cure for being an asshole?" Dani asked. "Maybe he's just crazy."
Rahne shook her head. She glanced at Illyana, who was sitting in a corner and talking to her puppet again.
"No. Crazy is having the power to leave here whenever you want and choosing to stay."
As curfew approached, Rahne led Dani back to her room.
"I really enjoyed spending the day with you, Dani, but we're not supposed to be in each other's rooms. So, good night."
"Wait," Dani called out as Rahne turned to leave. "Why does she watch us all the time?"
"For our own good," Rahne answered. "To make sure we don't do what you almost did today or any other self-destructive behavior."
"Dr. Frost is trying to help us. If you follow the treatment you'll get out of here. Maybe even before the rest of us."
Dani smiled and nodded as Rahne turned around began to walk towards her own room.
"Thank you for everything today."
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 11, 2020 1:57:41 GMT -5
Part 2
Roberto hummed to himself as he folded his clothes in the hospital laundry room.
"You know, doing your own laundry's not so bad," he told Sam, who was slouched on a nearby chair.
"Just how many shirts did you bring?" Sam asked.
Roberto tossed one of his shirts at Sam. "Here. Maybe now you'll finally wash that shirt you've been wearing."
Sam looked at the shirt before putting it over his shoulder. "Neat."
"So, was it scary?" Roberto asked. "You know, working in the mines."
Sam nodded.
"I don't think I'd work in a mine even if you paid me a million dollars."
Sam chuckled. "I couldn't pay you a million dollars anyway."
"When we get out of here, I'll spot you," Roberto promised. "My folks are good for it."
While the boys talked in the laundry room, the girls were attempting to sleep, with only Rahne succeeding. Dani tossed and turned, haunted by the memories of her father's death, While Illyana simply stared up at the ceiling.
All of them were being monitored on a group of security screens. But no camera was focused on the edge of the woods, where a large shadow emerged and ran forward with a sickening growl.
The shadow collided with the forcefield covering the grounds. Instantly, Illyana shot out of bed and the lights in the laundry room went out.
"What was that?" Sam asked in the darkness.
"Just the circuit breaker," Roberto assured him. "You'd think they'd have better wiring with that force field they have keeping us in. Wait here. I'll get the lights."
Sam leaned his head back. "A million dollars, huh?" He began to hum the tune to 'If I had a million dollars.'
There was a banging noise, causing Sam to stop humming and look around. On the far side of the laundry room, one of the washing machines was shaking and glowing from the inside, providing the only source of light with the power still out.
Sam stood up and slowly approached the washing machine. He leaned over and touched the glass door, his hand beginning to vibrate in fear.
A hand suddenly pressed against the inside of the washing machine's door, and the light disappeared, enveloping Sam in an even greater darkness than before.
"Hello?" he called out. "Is anybody there?"
As if in response, a familiar sound came to Sam's ears, the sound of pickaxes striking rock. He walked around the washing machine and found himself surrounded by miners pounding away at granite walls.
The lights from their helmets nearly blinded Sam, who slowly walked between them. None of the miners stopped to acknowledge him, but he recognized some of their faces.
Sam's breathing grew heavy as he approached one miner who was pounding away at the back wall. This miner was the only one who was making any noise other than the sound of the pickaxes.
"Dad?" Sam whispered.
The miner stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at Sam with a bruised and bloodied face.
"Sam Hill, what have you done?"
Someone screamed, and the other miners swung their pickaxes at Sam. The young Kentuckian panicked and blasted backwards, smashing through the chair he had been sitting on and cracking the wall behind it.
Sam groaned in pain and shock and stared at the washing machine, which seemed to have exploded from the inside.
Illyana stood up, clutching her puppet, and stared out the barred window of her cell.
"What do you think that was, Lockheed?"
Dani yawned as she stepped into the girl's shower. She had barely slept the previous night.
Illyana and Rahne were already there. Illyana was in the process of drying her hair as Dani walked in and promptly left without acknowledging Dani's presence.
Dani glanced after her before taking the shower stall next to Rahne.
"You'd better get up earlier if you want any hot water," Rahne explained. "Illyana's always the first one here and she always takes really long showers."
"Thanks for the warning." Dani glanced at the walls and ceiling. "There's no cameras in here, are there?"
"Only safe place in the building," Rahne replied. "Though I never checked the boys' showers."
The girls chuckled and Dani turned on her shower faucet. She grimaced as she turned the hot water knob as far as it would go to no avail.
"Told you," Rahne said.
Dani looked at Rahne and noticed a large 'W' burned onto her shoulder.
"That's some serious body-art. Tattoos aren't hardcore enough?"
"It wasn't my idea," Rahne said.
"What's it stand for?"
Rahne turned the shower off and wrapped herself in her towel. "I don't want to talk about it," she said as she left.
In the boys showers, Sam stood in front of one of the sinks, staring at his reflection in the mirror.
Sam began to sob. He raised his right hand and punched himself in the face. He then punched himself again and fell to the floor.
The group session that day focused on meditation. Emma and the teens sat in a circle on the floor. Their legs were crossed Indian style and their eyes were closed.
"Control," Emma said softly, repeating the word every few seconds.
Sam, Dani, and Rahne were attempting to empty their minds and get into the meditation, but Illyana simply sat with her hand on her chin and a bored expression on her face. Roberto opened one eye to look at her.
"Roberto, Illyana, would you please take this seriously?" Emma asked. Her eyes were still closed.
Roberto closed his eyes, but as Emma resumed her chant of "control," Illyana's lips parted in a snake-like grin.
After the session was completed, the teens gathered in the rec room. Roberto went straight to the ping pong table and picked up a pair of paddles.
"You up for a round?" he asked Sam. "I'll go easy on you."
As the boys began their game of ping pong, Dani and Rahne approached the foosball table and began playing. They laughed as they manically spun the little men around and knocked the ball back and forth.
After Rahne scored a goal, Dani went around the table to retrieve the ball from her goal. She looked up and her smiled disappeared as she saw Illyana sitting on the couch staring at them intently with her dragon puppet held against her cheek.
Dani grimaced as she took her place and dropped the ball back onto the table.
"Does she have to stare at us like that?"
"That's what she does," Rahne replied. "You get used to it after a while."
After a while, they switched places, with the boys taking over the foosball table and the girls picking up the ping pong paddles. The continued to play until Emma entered the rec room.
"Lights out in ten."
Roberto rolled his eyes. "Party pooper."
The group began to leave. Dani stopped at the door and looked back. Illyana had walked over to the foosball table and was slowly turning the goalie's handle.
"If you wanted to play, you could have just asked."
Illyana looked up at Dani in surprise.
"I said, you could have asked to play if you wanted to."
Illyana looked down at the foosball table again. "I don't know how," she said softly.
"Foosball's not a hard game."
Illyana sighed and let go of the handle. She angrily walked past Dani, who could only stare after her in exasperation.
That night, Dani again struggled to sleep. She tossed and turned as she did the night before, but something else was wrong.
She was shivering. Even with her blanket wrapped tightly around her, it was far too cold in her cell.
As Emma watched from the control room, the camera monitoring Dani shorted out, and another display alerted Emma to an anomaly in the cell.
Something touched Dani's face and she opened her eyes.
There was no ceiling above her. Instead there was a black sky from which tiny flecks were falling.
Dani held out her hand and caught one of the flecks. It was black ash.
The ash-fall increased in intensity and she looked up. A pair of glowing red eyes were glaring down at her, and she heard a loud roar.
Dani screamed in terror as Emma unlocked the door to her cell. She found the girl shaking, her clothes and hair covered in black soot.
She looked at Emma, struggling not to cry.
"What's happening to me?"
An analysis appeared on the main computer.
Subject: Danielle Moonstar
Elevated levels of psyionic energy sustained for 48 hours.
Mutant ability unknown.
Collect blood sample for analysis.
Emma moved Dani to a hospital bed and began taking a blood sample.
"Your ability is clearly manifesting itself. We need to conduct some tests to figure out just what it is."
She looked into Dani's exhausted eyes. "You haven't been sleeping, have you? I can give you something for that, if you want."
Dani nodded, and Emma pocketed the blood sample. "Once we determine what your power is, everything will become much easier, I promise."
"Did you know that baby rattlesnakes are much more dangerous than adult ones? They can't control how much venom they secrete yet. New mutants have a similar situation. When their power first manifests, the chances are they hurt someone, usually themselves. That's why new mutants are dangerous."
"Is that why we need to be locked up?" Dani asked.
Emma smiled. "That's why you all need to be sequestered, for you own safety and for everyone else's."
Rahne entered the chapel and sat down in the confessional booth.
"Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It's been a week since my last confession. I had impure thoughts. I lied to Dr. Frost. And I was up in the vents again."
Rahne was startled by the sound of loud footsteps from inside the chapel. She glanced out of the holes in booth, but could see no one there.
"Hello?"
She turned back, speaking quickly in her nervousness and sudden need to get out of there.
"I'll say an 'our father' and two hail Mary's, ok?"
The door to the chapel opened with a loud creaking sound, causing Rahne to gulp.
"Who's there?"
An all-too-familiar voice whispered at her.
"Witch."
Emma was walking with Dani towards the cafeteria for breakfast.
"My superior runs a facility for gifted mutants. You could move there after this, if you wanted to."
"Rahne said if I followed your program I'd get out of here faster," Dani said.
Emma smiled. "You've gotten close to Rahne, haven't …"
Her voice trailed off as she suddenly became concerned about something.
Rahne ran out of the booth and the chapel as the voice screamed after her.
"You witch! I'll flay the flesh from your bones!"
She collapsed on the grass, clutching the cross on her necklace.
"Demons can't enter churches. Demons can't enter churches. Demons can't enter churches."
"Dr. Frost?"
Emma looked down at Dani and smiled. "It's nothing, dear."
Rahne looked even more troubled than usual when they began that day's group session.
"Are you all right?" Dani asked as she took her seat.
Rahne nodded, but was spared the need to respond further when Emma began the session.
"Today I'd like to talk about obedience. If you want any hope of moving on to my superior's facility, I have to know that you can be trusted."
Sam raised his hand. "What if we don't want to move on? What if we just want to go home?"
"Sam, you remember what happened last time. Do you think they've stopped looking for you?" She glanced at all of them. "If you weren't here, you'd be in prison, or worse."
"It was an accident!"
"Will anyone outside this room believe that?"
"I would," Dani protested. "Sam's a good guy."
"Even if I wasn't, why do I have to be here for the rest of my life because of one mistake?" Sam asked. "I thought I was here to get better, but I'm not getting any better. I'm seeing things, having these terrible nightmares. When am I finally gonna get better?"
"You're better when I say you're better," Emma said sharply before softening her tone. "And I promise, you will get better."
"Every new mutant starts out exactly where you are now. Even that famous team of mutant superheroes were once teenagers who didn't know how to control their powers."
Illyana looked away at the mention of the X-Men.
"You're saying we could be X-Men too?" Roberto asked.
"Perhaps," Emma answered. "Eventually."
"What d'you think?" Roberto asked when they gathered in the rec room again. He sat down on a chair and put two fingers to his temple. "Is her 'superior' Mr. 'I sense a disturbance in the force?'"
"Why would we want to be X-Men?" Dani asked.
"I know," Roberto said. "I'm rich. I'm not putting on a suit and fighting people." He looked at Sam. "You should do it. It'd probably be better than working in the mines. You could be the Exploding Boy."
"I think I prefer what Rahne called me," Sam replied. "Cannonball."
Roberto pointed at Rahne. "You could be Wolf Girl. Awoooo."
Rahne made a sound somewhere between a giggle and a sigh.
"What mutant name would you choose?" Dani asked.
"Colossus is already taken, one more reason not to be an X-Man," Roberto said.
Illyana suddenly stood up and began to walk out.
"Come on," Dani said. 'This is like our ice breaker. Why don't you tell us what kind of mutant name you'd pick?"
"I've got it!" Roberto pointed at Illyana. "You could be the Magic School Bus."
That got Illyana to turn around in confusion.
"You could just pop the X-Men over wherever they need to go and bring them back when the fighting's done."
Illyana's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I can do a bit more than that."
A small circle of light appeared next to Illyana. She stuck her hand into the circle, and it reappeared out of an identical circle behind Roberto's head. She flicked her finger in his ear.
"Ouch." Roberto rubbed his ear, but his smile did not diminish at all.
"Rahne said you could get out of here any time you wanted," Dani said.
"I could," Illyana acknowledged.
"So why don't you?"
"I guess I don't have a reason to."
"You've got to have someone you want to see again," Sam said. "Some friends or family."
Illyana grimaced and held her puppet tight.
"I've got Lockheed. He's the only friend I need."
Roberto burst out laughing. "That again?" He stood up and walked around Illyana.
"Aren't you a little old for imaginary friends?" he asked as he yanked the doll from her arm.
"Hey!" Illyana yelled in horror.
Roberto threw the puppet to Dani when Illyana tried to grab it back from him. When Illyana turned around and ran at Dani, he called out "here!"
Dani threw the doll back to Roberto. Illyana was beginning to hyperventilate with rage.
"GIVE HIM BACK!"
All the lights dimmed as Illyana screamed. Roberto stared in shock as Illyana looked ready to kill him.
He quickly handed the doll back to her. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd get that upset."
The lights returned to normal as Illyana took the puppet in her arms and hugged it tight.
"I'm sorry," Roberto said again, but Illyana did not seem to hear him.
"It's ok, Lockheed," she said, rocking and cooing the doll and seemingly oblivious to everyone else around her. "I won't let anyone take you away from me."
The others all looked at each other, exchanging expressions of shock at Illyana's outburst.
In the control room, Emma replayed the footage of the brief fight over the puppet. Her eyes narrowed as the monitor displayed a message which read 'no unusual energy readings detected' as the lights dimmed
She turned her attention to another monitor, which displayed several documents written in Russian.
Emma picked up her phone and called out.
"It's me. I think I've figured out why we couldn't find any documents about the Rasputin girl. We were looking in the wrong decade."
"What do you mean?" a male voice on the other end asked.
"She's not sixteen years old. She's six."
"How is that possible?"
Emma glanced at a picture in the corner of the monitor. The photograph depicted an extremely large black-haired young man who had a very small blonde girl on his right shoulder. Both of the subjects of the picture wore wide smiles.
"I don't know. But she is clearly hiding a lot more than I first suspected."
"Send everything you've found over to me. Do you require assistance?"
"No," Emma assured her superior. "I think I'll enjoy this challenge."
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 12, 2020 5:16:49 GMT -5
Part 3
Roberto bopped his head to his music as he filled Sam's tray with bacon and eggs.
Sam took a tiny bit of the egg and tasted it. "Mmmm. Almost as good as Ma used to make em."
"It's quite good," Rahne agreed. She and Dani were already eating and sitting together.
Roberto froze, looking at the door in trepidation. The others turned to see Illyana standing in the cafeteria doorway.
"You hungry?" Roberto asked. Instead of answering, Illyana just turned and walked away.
Roberto made an 'eek' face. "Guess I'm still in the dog house."
Sam put his tray down and leaned against the counter. "My Pa used to tell me that when people get really angry or really scared, that's when they show you who they really are. He was trying to tell me to control my temper and not to be scared."
"You're saying she showed who she really is?"
"I guess what I'm saying is we don't know. I shouldn't judge, since I showed who I am when I panicked."
"Yeah. I guess I did too."
Sam stabbed his fork into the bacon. "You ever think maybe we're the crazy ones?"
"No one in this room is crazy," Dani declared. "But if we stay here too long, I think we'll all go cuckoo eventually."
"And out best ticket for getting out of here has already flown over the cuckoo's nest," Rahne observed.
Illyana waited with an impatient expression as Emma attached her to the lie detector again.
"How are you today?" Emma asked when everything was hooked up.
"Like a ray of sunshine," Illyana answered sarcastically. Emma glanced down at the results, which showed that Illyana was lying.
"Very good." She sat down with a grin.
"Well, little miss sunshine, do you know what secondary mutations are?"
"I can't say that I do."
Emma glanced at the results again. There was no lie.
"A secondary mutation is when a mutant develops multiple abilities that are seemingly unrelated to each other. For instance, the X-Men's teleporter also has the ability to cling to walls like an insect."
Illyana paused in thought as she considered this new concept.
"What's your point?" she finally asked.
"I'm asking if it is possible that you have a secondary mutation, something beyond just your teleportation disks."
"Not as far as I know," Illyana responded.
Emma frowned as the polygraph still detected that she was telling the truth.
"You don't think there is a chance this might apply to you, that your mutant abilities might be greater than you previously knew?"
"I guess there's always a chance, but I've got no reason to think that is the case."
"Suppose, for a moment, you did have a secondary mutation, what would it be?"
Illyana raised her hands and shook her head. "How the hell should I know?"
"Could it be time travel, for instance?"
Illyana stopped, and Emma smiled.
"Am I finally looking in the right places?"
"I didn't come from the future, if that's what you're asking." Illyana summoned a disk of light at her feet and stared into it.
"You still here?" Emma asked.
Illyana clasped her hands together and the disk disappeared. "Got lost in thought for a moment there. I suppose your superior would be a lot more interested in me if I could time travel as well."
Emma's eyes narrowed. "You ask a lot of questions about him."
"And you talk about him a lot, but somehow always without ever actually saying anything. You want everyone to think it's Xavier, but we both know that's far from the truth."
"I thought as much," Emma said. "You're not here for the same reason as the others. Is someone waiting for you outside these walls?"
Illyana shook her head. "I'm here for myself. I don't have anyone who could have sent me here."
Emma glanced at the polygraph results, which continued to show no lie.
"You think that because I can't hold you here against your will that you have the advantage over me, don't you?"
Illyana held up the hand which was attached to the polygraph. "That's hardly my only advantage."
Emma frowned. "So, you know why I don't need that to tell when the others are lying to me. It's true that that has made things more difficult, but I still believe you can be brought into line, especially now that I've found a chink in your armor."
Illyana titled her head slightly in confusion, and Emma gave her a menacing grin.
"That puppet you're always carrying around. I wonder what kind of stitching it's made out of?"
Illyana's eyes widened in fright and she clutched her toy dragon closely.
Emma gave a small laugh. "All this time I was sure your strange attachment to that doll was part of an elaborate act you were putting on. But the truth is you're no actress. You really are just as bizarre as you appear."
Illyana took a deep breath and glared at Emma, whose smile grew even wider.
"Yes. You are a riddle wrapped within an enigma, Illyana, and I'm going to enjoy unraveling you piece by piece."
Illyana leaned forward and spoke in a threatening tone.
"I hope you're ready for what you find."
Emma's eyes scanned the gloomy faces at that day's session.
"Today I want to focus on motivation. The more effort you put into this program, the sooner you can move on. So, what are your hopes for the future? What would you want to do once you can rejoin society?"
She glanced around the room. No one was volunteering to be first. "Sam?"
Sam sighed. "I guess I just want to go home and go back to school, see my friends and family again."
"You can do that," Emma assured him, "if you learn to control your power."
Sam nodded, and Emma looked to the next person. "Roberto?"
"I'd like to go home too, start learning the family business," the Brazilian teenager answered.
"And what about the rest of you?" Emma asked, turning to the girls. "Unlike Sam and Roberto, you three don't have homes to return to. What will you do?"
Rahne's brow creased in thought. "I hadn't really thought about that."
"Neither did I," Dani admitted. "It's been hard to look that far ahead."
"Perhaps it is time you did so. Setting concrete and realistic goals is one of the most effective ways of moving forward."
Rahne and Dani looked at each other.
Emma turned to Illyana. "And what about you?"
Illyana leaned back in her chair and tilted her head. "I'm always focused on my goal."
That night, the teens were once again in the rec room. Rahne and Dani sat on the couch watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, while Sam read a book about baseball and Illyana lay on the floor drawing on a large sheet of paper with crayons.
Roberto came into the room. "You gotta see what I found in the attic."
He led them upstairs and brought them to the back of the attic to see the antique he had found.
"Is that a jukebox?" Dani asked.
Sam chuckled. "Anyone got a dime?"
Roberto gave the machine a slap and it lit up. "Still works."
He put on an old rock song.
"I don't think I know this song," Rahne said.
"It's a classic," Sam replied, starting to shake his head and snap his fingers. Dani and Roberto were also starting to get into the groove.
Rahne and Dani began to dance together in front of the juke-box while Sam and Roberto pushed each other on a spinning chair they found.
Illyana went to sit down and watch as the others had fun.
As the song changed Dani glanced at Illyana and saw that she was tapping one foot to the beat of the music.
She walked over to Illyana. "Do you want to dance?"
"I don't know how," Illyana responded.
Dani shook her head. "Is there anything you do know how to do?"
"Yes, but most of it involves killing people."
Dani froze for a moment. "Yeesh. Sorry I asked."
The sound of thunder distracted all of them. Rahne looked out the window and smiled. She went over to Dani and took her by the hand.
"Come on. I want to show you something."
"Where are we going?" Dani asked.
"It's a surprise."
Dani followed Rahne out of the attic as Roberto turned the juke box off and sat down next to Sam. He handed the other boy a glass of iced tea.
"What do you think those two are up to?"
Rahne and Dani crawled through the vents.
"You sure this is the right way?" Dani asked, growing uncomfortable with all the crawling.
"I can see in the dark," Rahne responded. "Trust me. You're gonna love this."
"You know what this place needs?" Roberto asked. "An Xbox. I wouldn't get bored if I had the latest Fifa game to keep me busy when we're not in therapy."
"This could be a five star hotel and I'd still just want to get out of here," Sam responded.
"Long as that bubble's up, we don't have a choice." Roberto glanced at Illyana, who was sitting far away from them. "Well, most of us don't have a choice."
He smiled at Sam. "If we 'accidentally' smashed the machine that makes these force fields we'd be home free."
"We'd have to find it first," Sam responded. "Is that what you were doing, looking for where the generator is hidden?"
Roberto shrugged, and Sam grew contemplative. "I never had a choice."
"What do you mean?"
Sam sighed. "I had to go work in the mines with my dad. I was still new at the job. One day, I just got claustrophobic, like I couldn't breathe."
"And you blasted off," Roberto said. "It made the mines cave in, and your dad and the other miners were trapped underneath."
Sam nodded and choked back a sob. "I killed my dad and most of the crew. I just … I couldn't forgive myself."
Roberto put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry man."
"I would do anything, anything, to change that."
"It can't be changed."
The boys turned to Illyana, who looked upset with Sam.
"You said before that you want to go back, back home, back to school. But those places are never gonna be what they were before."
"I know that!" Sam protested.
"Do you?" Illyana scoffed. "You want to go back in time to before you had this power. But wishing it away doesn't change the fact that you have it or that your father is dead. You have to live in the real world."
"You're going to talk to me about living in the real world?" Sam asked in a raised voice. "You're always off in your own little fantasy land."
Illyana stood up. "The past is dead. If you want to get better, start looking forward instead of back."
"All right. What's your dead past, then?" Roberto asked. "Did you kill someone too?"
"Everyone here has killed someone," Illyana answered.
"What happened?" Sam asked. "You drop someone from one of your portals, or chop off their head by mistake?
Illyana shook her head. "When I killed, it was with my bare hands."
She left, and Sam and Roberto looked at each other in trepidation.
Rahne had to help Dani out of the vent once they were outside.
Dani looked around the grounds. "Wait, so you could get out of the building the whole time?"
"It's not like I can get past the force field," Rahne said. "But there's nowhere in the facility itself I can't go."
She led Dani out onto the grass, where they laid down.
"Wow," Dani said as she watched the raindrops falling on the forcefield above them, creating an ever-changing field of glowing orange stars which lit up the night sky.
"It's beautiful," Rahne whispered.
"It sure is. It's a beautiful cage. That's what my father called it."
Rahne turned to her. "You had a force field on your reservation?"
Dani laughed. "No. That's not what I meant. My father was talking about our bodies."
She looked back up at the brilliant display in the sky. "How we're trapped in them, and how when we die, our souls become free."
Dani smiled. "Free to be with the ones we love. It sounds pretty nice."
"That assumes you get to go to heaven with your loved ones," Rahne said.
"Yeah."
"I guess you just gotta do as much good as you can while you're here, and hope it's enough when the time comes."
"I guess that's all anyone can really can do." Dani rolled onto her side and looked at Rahne.
"What is it?"
"It's just … you've been so nice to me. Too nice. I think I'd have gone insane if you weren't here. Now I'm wondering if you're real, or if you're someone I dreamt up."
"And the others? Did you dream them up too?"
Dani laughed again. "I'd have to have taken some serious drugs to dream up someone like Illyana, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they're real."
Rahne laughed as well. "I'm really here."
She rolled over and looked into Dani's eyes. "You know when Dr. Frost was asking us what we want to do when we finally get out of here? I think I've figured out one thing I want to do."
"Me too."
They reached for each other and began to kiss.
There was a large boom as something struck the side of the force field closest to them. The girls shot up in shock as the barrier shone as bright as day for several seconds.
"What was that?" Dani asked between breaths.
"Must've been a lightning strike," Rahne answered.
Dani looked back up at the sky. The rain continued to leave a star field above them.
"Beautiful, but scary."
"You wanna go back inside now?" Rahne asked.
Dani nodded. "The longer we're out, the more likely it is Dr. Frist will realize we're gone."
They began to head back towards the vent they had used to leave the building.
"Hey, Rahne?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for bringing me out here."
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 13, 2020 5:45:23 GMT -5
Part 4
The next morning, Dani went back outside to the spot where she and Rahne had watched the rain the night before. She spotted Illyana crouched in front of the edge of the force field.
Curious, Dani approached. As she got closer, she saw a large black figure lying on the ground in front of Illyana, just a few meters on the other side of the barrier.
She stopped a few feet behind and to the right of Illyana. "Is that a bear?"
"An adult black bear," Illyana responded. "Killed some time last night."
Dani took a closer look at the carcass and nearly gagged. The beast had had its throat torn out.
"What killed it?" she asked.
"A bigger predator."
Dani looked at her skeptically. "The only bigger predator would be another bear."
"Then I guess it was another bear," Illyana said. "The other day I found a family of deer all killed in the same way. But they weren't eaten."
"What does that mean? It's killing other animals for fun?"
Illyana picked up a small rock and lightly tossed it at the barrier, which glowed orange at the impact. "More like it's killing because it's angry it can't get through the force field."
She chuckled. "Ironic. The same barrier that keeps everyone imprisoned might be what's keeping us safe from whatever's out there."
"You seem to know a lot about it," Dani observed.
"Not as much as you do, I think."
"What do you mean?"
Illyana stood up and turned to Dani. "This creature showed up the same day you did, and it's been hanging around ever since. I doubt that's a coincidence."
Dani looked down as she remembered the growling she heard when her home was destroyed and the red eyes she had seen and roar she had heard when ash filled her room.
"Do you know something about this bigger bear?"
Dani was startled out of her reverie by how close Illyana had gotten to her.
"N-no," she stammered. "I don't know anything."
Illyana's eyes narrowed as she examined Dani's face. She did not believe her.
"Are you sacred of me?"
Dani hesitated before answering. "Yes," she said softly.
"You should be," Illyana said seriously before nodding towards the bear carcass. "But I think you should be more scared of that."
Illyana began to walk back towards the main building while Dani turned and stared at the dead bear.
"Fear is perhaps the greatest obstacle mutants face in this world," Emma told them. "It is fear that leads to anti-mutant prejudice, and it is fear that often keeps young mutants from realizing their potential."
Dani shifted uncomfortably in her seat and clutched her bear pendant, and act which Rahne noticed.
"That isn't to say that fear is inherently bad," Emma continued. "A little bit of fear is healthy. It can keep us from doing something stupid and also give us a needed push. But too much fear can be paralyzing and leave you stuck where you are."
"So you're saying we should only be a little afraid of our powers?" Sam asked.
"You should respect your abilities. They are dangerous. But they are also unique and special. And if wielded properly, they can be useful."
Illyana frowned and Roberto scoffed.
"Useful? I can see how teleporting is useful, but the rest of us only have powers that are good for breaking things."
"If that is where your skills lie, is that so wrong?" Emma asked. "Even destruction can be used for a creative purpose if wielded correctly."
She glanced around the room. "Don't fear the future any more than you have to. Look forward to it, and you will find your purpose."
As the session ended and Emma and the teens began to file out of the room, Rahne stopped and looked at Dani, who was still seated and clutching her bear pendant.
"You ok?"
"I'm scared," Dani whispered.
Rahne sat down next to her. "You can tell me anything. You know that."
Dani shook her head. "You're gonna think I'm as mental as Illyana."
"That would be quite a feat. Come on, what's eating you."
Dani sighed. "When I was little, my grandfather used to tell me stories about this bear that haunted our family. He said that when we lived upright lives, the bear was smaller and farther away. But if we let ourselves be consumed by bad things like greed and fear, the bear would grow and it would come for us."
"That sounds like every story parents tell their kids about monsters who come after misbehaving children."
Dani nodded. "That's what my dad said. He told me that everyone has two bears inside them, a good bear representing all that's and a bad bear representing all that's evil, and that those bears are the only ones a person should be concerned about."
"Seems like good advice to me."
Dani took a deep breath and looked Rahne directly in the eyes. "I think my grandfather was right. It was the bear that destroyed my reservation. And I think it might have followed me here."
Rahne took Dani's hand. "If it is, then all you've got to do is not be afraid of it and it'll go away. Isn't that what your grandfather said."
Dani chuckled. "I guess you're right. If only it was so easy."
Sam sat on a stool as Roberto prepared dinner.
"You hear that talk about destruction and finding our purpose?" Sam asked. "Sure sounded like an X-Men pitch to me."
"Well, I'm not using my power for breaking or building things," Roberto said. "Soon as I'm out of here, I'm joining the business world, and if I never use my power again it'll be too soon."
"Same, 'cept I don't think I'll be joining the business world. Not unless you give me that million you said you'd spot me first."
Roberto grinned. "You've got a good memory. Don't worry. I'm still good for it."
A voice whispered: "Sam."
Sam froze and turned around, but there was no one there.
"You heard that too, right."
Roberto nodded. 'Who was that?"
"That sounded like my dad."
"Roberto…"
The Brazilian boy dropped the pan he was holding at the sound of the girl's voice.
"Why did you kill me, Roberto?"
"You ok, man?" Sam asked.
Roberto did not respond. He stood frozen with his face pale.
Emma slumped in her chair in the control room and rubbed her eyes.
The glanced at one of the many monitors through her fingers and slowly lowered her hand as she read what was written on the screen.
'ENTER PASSWORD.'
Roberto was on his way back to his room when he heard someone singing. He followed the voice and entered the swimming room, where the facility had a large swimming room.
Illyana was at the far side of the pool, singing to herself and doing backstrokes. She stopped and turned when she saw him standing near the door.
"Sorry," he said. "I thought I heard …"
"You want to join me?" Illyana asked.
"Really? You're not … still mad at me?"
She smiled. "Do I look angry?"
Roberto smiled back and began to take off his shirt.
Emma stormed through the hall with an angry expression.
Roberto swam as fast as he could. He grabbed the edge of the pool and exhaled in triumph.
Illyana grabbed the edge shortly afterwards and grinned at him. "Looks like you win."
He smiled back. "What do I win?"
Illyana inched closer to Roberto and planted a kiss on his lips.
The water around them began to steam as Roberto kissed her back, and he quickly broke off from her.
"What's wrong?"
Roberto held his shaking hands above the water.
"I just … I need a second to cool down."
"Isn't this what you want?" she asked.
"Look … I can get too hot, and when that happens …"
"Hey, you don't have to be afraid," she assured him. "You can tell me."
"I was with my girlfriend," Roberto began. His voice wavered as he continued. "I wanted to hold her, but I … I burned her. I killed her with my hands."
"Look at me," Illyana instructed him. "You can't hurt me."
She grinned mischievously. "But if you're so scared, we can always have another race. You won't win this time."
She shot off towards the other end of the pool, getting a head start. Roberto turned to follow, yelling "Hey! That's not-"
He stopped when he saw there was no one else in the pool with him.
"'Yana?"
Emma opened the door to Illyana's room. She found the blonde girl lying on her bed reading a book.
"What were you doing in the security room?" she demanded.
Illyana turned a page in her book, seemingly oblivious to Emma's presence. Emma grabbed the book out of her hands and threw it to the floor.
Illyana did not look at Emma, but simply glanced at the cover of the book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
"I'll ask you again. What were you doing?"
'What makes you think I was in this place?" Illyana asked nonchalantly.
"Don't play games with me," Emma snarled. "You're the only one here who could have gotten in without breaking the lock."
She grabbed Illyana by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "You will answer me. And don't try to lie. I don't need to read your mind or your pulse to know when you're telling the truth."
"'Yana?" Roberto asked again.
A burned and rotted hand reached out of the water and touched the back of his neck.
Roberto turned around and came face to face with a floating corpse. Most its skin was burned off and its flesh was black.
Roberto screamed and began to back away. The corpse opened its mouth to scream in response, but no sound came out.
It followed Roberto as he scrambled out of the pool, what remained of its flesh bursting into flames as it left the water.
"Illyana!" Roberto screamed as he collapsed against the back wall. He held his hands over his face as the fiery corpse stood over him.
Emma and Illyana continued to stare each other down.
"You want to know who I work for?" Emma asked. "I am a powerful woman, a woman you don't want as your enemy, and he is my superior. That should tell you everything you need to know about him."
Illyana leered at her. "Do you think you can beat me?"
"I-"
Emma stopped as her expression morphed from anger to fear and concern. She turned her head to the doorway.
"Who is it?" Illyana asked before the fire alarms began to go off.
"What's going on?" Dani asked as Emma and Illyana rushed past her, Rahne, and Sam.
"Get back to your rooms!" Emma yelled, but she did not try to stop them from following after her.
They entered the pool room and stopped, holding up their arms to protect themselves from the sudden intense heat.
Roberto was facing the pool, screaming at the top of his lungs. His body was half covered in fire and half covered in black spots which looked like sunspots.
He turned to them and screamed again, the fire spreading to cover his entire body and turning from yellow to white.
Emma grabbed a mop off the wall and used it to push Roberto into the pool. The room filled with steam as fire met water.
Now back to normal, Roberto looked up at Illyana with an expression of abject terror.
"I'm calling the police and getting out of here," Roberto declared angrily as he attempted to unlock Emma's smartphone.
"Give me back my phone," Emma demanded. "I am in charge of this facility."
Roberto approached the door to the building and tried to force it open, but it would not budge.
He banged on the door twice before turning back to Emma. "You're not in charge of shit. Didn't you see what just happened?"
He pointed at Illyana. "Illyana just tried to kill me!"
"What?" Illyana asked in shock.
"Don't play innocent!" Roberto yelled. "You were getting back at me for taking your stupid doll!"
All eyes were suddenly on Illyana, who could not have looked more uncomfortable.
"Roberto, Illyana was in her room the entire time," Emma said.
"Bullshit!"
"Look at her!" Emma insisted. "She's not wearing a bathing suit and her hair is completely dry. That's because she wasn't in the pool. I was with her during your incident. There was nobody in the pool but you."
She walked over to Illyana. "Did you have anything to do with what just happened to Roberto?"
Illyana's voice cracked as she answered. "No."
Emma smiled. "You see? I know when you're telling the truth."
She turned to the others. "It's become clear to me that I have been too lax with you children. I've given you too much freedom. Starting from this moment that is going to change."
Emma looked at Illyana. "And you are not to do anything by yourself. From now on, someone will be with you at all times."
"I'm sorry, Danielle, but this means you'll be sharing your room from now on."
"But-" Dani began.
"Now, everyone, get to bed," Emma ordered them. "Now."
As they began to file out, Roberto stopped next to Illyana.
"I know what I saw," he said angrily. "You kissed me and then tried to kill me."
Illyana looked at him in horror.
Roberto, Sam, and Rahne all left. Dani stopped and looked back at Illyana, who had not moved.
"Come on," Dani said. "I'll help you move your bed."
There was very little space left in Dani's room once they moved Illyana's bed in.
Dani surveyed the limited personal space she now had and muttered: "As if this place couldn't get any worse."
"Sorry," Illyana said sheepishly.
Dani looked at Illyana. "You didn't really attack Roberto, did you?"
"Do you really think I'd do something like that?"
"I don't know," Dani said frankly.
Illyana scowled and looked away.
"Do you want to go get the rest of your stuff?" Dani asked.
"No." Illyana got on her bed and laid on her side facing away from Dani.
That night, Dani again struggled to sleep, this time from nerves at having to share a room with Illyana
She turned over to look at Illyana, who had not moved a muscle since she had laid down. She then rolled onto her other side and attempted to get back to sleep.
Dani's eyes opened again as she heard an unexpected sound coming from Illyana's side of the room.
Illyana was sobbing.
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 14, 2020 10:52:31 GMT -5
Part 5
"So how was it?" Rahne asked as she and Dani made their way to the cafeteria the next morning. "Was she talking to her doll all night?"
"No, actually," Dani responded. "No juicy stories to tell yet."
"Give it time. I'm sure you'll have plenty of those soon."
Roberto was once again serving the food behind the counter, but this time he was not listening to music and looked angry.
"Two trays, please," Dani asked him.
"One for her?" Roberto asked.
"Do you want her to come here now?"
"Point taken." Roberto filled two bowls of oatmeal and placed them on Dani's tray before picking out two bananas and adding them to the tray. One banana was a nice shade of yellow, while the other was mostly brown.
"See you later," Dani told Rahne before leaving with the two meals. She made her way back to her room to find it empty.
Dani glanced around the room, taking stock of what few things Illyana had brought over. She set the tray down on Illyana's bed and lifted up her pillow. Underneath, she found a golden round locket.
Dani picked up the locket and examined it. It was the size of her palm and had a thin chain like a necklace. As she looked at it, Dani thought she heard the locket whispering to her.
Dani noticed a groove along the circumference of the locket, indicating that it could be opened. She raised her other hand and began to try to pull it open.
"Don't touch that."
Dani was startled and dropped the locket. She turned to see Illyana behind her. The Russian girl was wrapped in a towel and her hair was wet from what was an unusually quick shower for her. She did not look happy.
"Sorry," Dani said quickly.
Illyana bent down to pick up the locket. She put the chain over her head and wore it around her neck as the towel fell to the floor.
"That's very nice," Dani said. "What is it?"
"That's none of your business," Illyana responded curtly, showing no concern at being naked.
Dani watched as Illyana got dressed, making sure to hide the locket under her shirt.
"Here," Dani said when Illyana was done changing. She handed one of the oatmeal bowls to Illyana. "It's probably cold by now." Illyana took the bowl without a word of thanks and immediately sat down to start eating.
"So, um, where's Lockheed?" Dani asked, getting around to why she had lifted Illyana's pillow in the first place. "I haven't seen him in a few days."
"Dr. Frost threatened him," Illyana explained between bites. "So I had to let him go."
"Uh huh" was the only response Dani could think of.
Dani sat down on the other bed facing away from Illyana and began to eat her own breakfast. Both bananas were still on her tray. She picked up the yellow banana, and after a few seconds of thought decided to give it to Illyana.
"So you come from Russia?"
"Originally."
"What's it like there?"
"I don't remember."
"Do you have any hobbies?"
"No."
"There's nothing you like to do for fun?"
"No."
Dani sighed. "You are a terrible conversationalist."
"What are your hobbies?"
"I do archery."
Illyana turned to her. "You shoot arrows?"
Dani chuckled. "I know it seems stereotypical, the Native American with a bow. My father and grandfather taught me. They'd take me hunting, and they always used bows instead of guns. When I'm holding my bow, I guess I feel closer to them. I'm pretty good at it too."
Illyana finished her oatmeal and wiped her face. "I've never held a bow, but I'm pretty good with a sword."
"You mean fencing?"
"Something like that."
"So you do have a hobby."
"No," Illyana said. "More like a survival skill."
"Jesus." Dani set her own bowl down and stood up. "That's it. Just because I'm stuck with you doesn't mean I have to put up with your gloomy attitude all the time." She grabbed Illyana's arm and pulled her to her feet.
"Where are we going?"
"To do something fun."
Rahne entered the rec room to find Dani and Illyana playing foosball.
Illyana had a look of intense concentration as she furiously spun the little soccer players around.
"Easy," Dani said. "This isn't the super bowl. It's just supposed to be fun."
Rahne cleared her throat to announce her presence. "Dr. Frost sent me to get you. We've got a group session in a few minutes."
Illyana gave her characters one last spin before turning to leave. Rahne waited for Dani and the two of them followed Illyana.
"Save me," Dani whispered to Rahne, who chuckled.
Roberto glared at Illyana as she entered the room. She avoided his eyes and took the seat Dani usually sat in instead of her usual seat next to him.
When Dani and Rahne entered and sat down, Emma began to speak.
"Today I'd like to talk about self-control."
"Well, I'd like to talk about self-defense," Roberto interjected angrily. "How about you start teaching us how to use our powers to defend ourselves?"
"I gotta agree with that," Sam said. "I don't feel safe here."
"is that what you all want?" Emma asked.
"I still don't know what my power is," Dani pointed out. "How am I supposed to use it to defend myself?"
Emma nodded. "I see the time has come for more private sessions." She sat up. "Very well. You can show me what you're all capable of."
Illyana plopped herself on her bed as she took out her book to continue reading.
"You've had more private sessions with Dr. Frost than anyone else," Dani said. "What were they like?"
"She wasn't teaching me to defend myself or how to use my powers," Illyana answered
"So what was the point?"
Illyana closed her book and looked up.
"Well?" Dani asked.
"Apparently I don't know how to lie," Illyana, "and telling you the truth would only put you in danger."
"Danger?"
Illyana turned to look at her. "There's a reason it only takes one person to run a facility for dangerous children with superpowers. That's all I can say."
Dani looked up at the camera nervously.
Rahne was taking a shower when she heard something enter the bathroom. She quickly turned the water off and wrapped herself in her towel.
"Hello? Dani, that you?"
A dark figure stepped into view. Dressed in black robes, with a large cross hanging from his neck and a long brown beard which seemed to hide his mouth, stood a figure from Rahne's nightmares.
"No," she whimpered. "I killed you."
Reverend Craig's lips parted in a smile, revealing his mouth. "And like Christ, I rise again."
He held up a burning brand of the letter 'W,' and Rahne backed up in terror.
"Stay away from me!"
She began to transform and fell to the floor. Craig stood over her and plunged the brand downward.
Everyone was alerted by Rahne's screams which continued and turned into wolf-howls. They converged on the girls' shower to see a brown wolf burst out of the steam.
"Rahne!" Dani screamed as the wolf collapsed at a locked door at the end of the hallway. The wolf let out another howl which turned into a scream as it turned back into a human.
Illyana entered the shower as Emma and the other kids gathered around Rahne, who had a new red 'W' branded onto her neck.
"What happened?" Dani yelled at Emma as the doctor covered Rahne with her coat.
"Is that real?" Roberto demanded. "That's real! I told you this shit's real!"
Illyana came back and shook her head. "There's no one in there."
"Well, something did that!" Sam yelled.
"Everyone, calm down!" Emma snapped, raising her voice to a far greater extent than before. She took two breaths before continuing in a calmer tone. "Get back to your rooms and I'll take care of Rahne."
"And be all alone in case whatever did that comes back?" Roberto asked.
"Fine," Emma responded. "Go to the rec room if it'll make you feel better."
"Something's not right with this place," Sam said as he paced around the rec room.
"Did you see something too?" Dani asked.
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
"Me too," Dani said. She turned to Illyana, who was standing away from the rest of them and looking out the window. "What about you. Have you seen anything?"
Illyana turned her head slightly to look at them. "No."
"So what?" Roberto asked. "Everyone's going crazy but you?"
Illyana frowned and looked out the window again. "I think I can explain why I'm the only one not being affected. But I can't explain what happened to Rahne."
"Well?" Roberto asked impatiently.
When Illyana did not answer Dani asked: "More of that stuff about Dr. Frost you can't talk about?"
"All I know is we gotta get out of here," Sam said.
Illyana sighed and stared at the forest.
"As bad as it is in here, out there it's much worse."
Dani shifted her head to look out the window as well. She shook in trepidation.
Emma scowled as she sat down in front of her many monitors in the control room. One monitor showed Rahne resting in an infirmary while another showed the other teens.
She began typing at a hurried pace. When she was finished, she sat back and waited for a response.
She did not have to wait long.
'To determine cause of anomalies, eliminate all possibilities. Determine nature of Danielle Moonstar's powers immediately.'
The next morning, Rahne opened her eyes to see Dani sitting at her bedside.
"Hey," Dani said with a large smile. "How do you feel?"
Rahne smiled back. "Better." She rubbed the gauze pad which was covering the part of her neck where she had been branded. "Still hurts though."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"He'd probably have done the same to you," Rahne said. She took Dani's hand. "But you're here now. Not on babysitting duty today?"
"Sam volunteered to do that today. I can stay as long as you want."
"Ahem."
Dani turned to see Emma standing in the infirmary doorway.
"Danielle. I need you to come with me."
Emma strapped Dani down to a chair and attached a sensor to the side of her head.
"You said you wanted to find out what your power is. We're going to try to cox it out of you in a controlled manner."
She filled a syringe with a strange liquid.
"What's that?" Dani asked.
"Just something to help you relax," Emma said as she injected the substance into Dani's arm.
Dani's eyes began to glaze over as the drug took effect.
"I'm going to ask you a series of questions, Danielle, and I want you to answer truthfully. What is the last thing you remember before coming here?"
Dani looked confused as she tried to remember that traumatic day.
"My dad woke me up. He said we had to run."
"What were you running from?" Emma asked.
"You said it was a tornado," Dani whispered.
"We both know that's not true," Emma said. "Focus. What was really happening."
"It was snowing," Dani recalled.
"In the middle of the summer?"
"It brings the snow."
"What does?"
"The Demon Bear."
Sam and Illyana were in the rec room. Illyana was examining the foosball table while Sam relaxed on the couch.
He jolted up at the sound of an inhuman high-pitched scream. Illyana looked up in surprise.
"I know that sound," she said.
Sam followed as Illyana stepped out into the hall. The lights flickered and went out.
"Well, this isn't creepy at all," Sam observed.
They heard a sound like nails on a chalkboard and turned the corner. A tall, lanky bald figure was scratching at a window with fingers that were as long as its forearm.
"What th-" Sam began before Illyana covered his mouth to quiet him. She took a deep breath as the figure stopped and stood up, towering above them.
The figure turned and they saw its face. Its skin was a light color but unusually bumpy. It had no eyes or nose. The only thing is had on its face was an enormous mouth that was filled with extremely long, sharp teeth which it bared as it screamed at them in a horrible wailing sound.
"Run," Illyana instructed Sam. "Run!"
Dani was beginning to fade out of consciousness as Emma continued to ask her questions.
"Focus, Dani," Emma commanded her. "Can you control it?"
"Nobody can," Dani whispered.
Emma looked up and turned around, her expression growing increasingly horrified.
Rahne was startled by a loud banging on the infirmary door.
"Who's there?" she asked, shaking with fright.
Whatever was in the hall continued to bang on the door several more times before it knocked the door off its hinges.
Rahne gaped as a large four-legged beast slowly entered the infirmary. Two large canines protruded from still closed mouth as it let out a low growl.
The beast opened its large mouth to roar and Rahne screamed in terror. On instinct she leapt from the bed, transforming into a wolf before she landed.
Even in her wolf form Rahne was less than half the size of the beast. She bolted at full speed past the creature and out of the infirmary.
Roberto was cleaning dishes in the cafeteria when a pair of long hands grabbed his shoulders.
He panicked at the sight of the inhuman appendages and turned around. A burst of fiery energy was unleashed from his hands and struck the tall creature in the stomach, burning it and sending it flying across the cafeteria.
Dani blinked as the room in front of her seemed to distort.
"Where are you?" she screamed.
Emma had left and was walking through the halls.
"Emergency override. Authorization White Queen. Disable all locks."
Three of the tall faceless creatures were now chasing Sam and Illyana, along with two new monsters. One was lizard-like but with an ape-like posture while the other looked like a goat with a crocodile jaw.
"What the hell are those things?" Sam screamed as they slammed one of the hallway doors behind them and attempted to hold it shut against the monsters.
"Go," Illyana said as their pursuers began to push the door open. "Get out of here."
"What about-"
Illyana grabbed Sam by the front of his short and threw him to the floor. He landed five feet away and looked up in shock as she struggled to hold the door by herself.
"Move it!" she yelled.
Sam got up and ran off. As soon as he was out of sight Illyana backed away from the door and stared down the monsters on the other side.
Rahne crawled through the vents as fast as she could. Another loud noise made her turn her head to look behind her, where she saw a shadow approaching from around the corner.
Left all alone and still hooked up to the machine, Dani found herself somewhere else. She saw a large, pristine white room with no windows.
A teenage boy was levitating objects with his mind while several scientists stood behind high -tech machines.
"What is this place?"
Two teenage girls launched energy blasts at each other, knocking both of them out.
"What are you doing?"
A guard dragged another teenager across the floor of a white hallway, using a taser and a baton to keep the young mutant in line.
"No! Stop it!"
Sam and Roberto met up near the front doors.
"What the hell's going on?" Roberto demanded.
"Dunno," Sam said.
"Figures," Roberto said. He pushed the door and was surprised to find it opening with little effort.
They ran outside and collapsed on the grass, panting.
"Get me out of here," Roberto said. "I don't care if I have to go with Illyana. Just get me the hell away from this place."
"This is what happens," Sam said between breaths, "when she sees things."
"Well, shit."
They looked up as Emma stepped out of the building.
"Are you two all right?" she asked as she approached them.
"No, we are not all right!" Sam said loudly. "Did you see those things?"
Rahne climbed out of the same vent she and Dani had used the night they watched the rain. She clutched her chest and collapsed to her knees after arriving outside to what she hoped was safety.
As she calmed down, she heard a sound that was at once birdlike and mournful. Slowly, she rose and walked around the corner of the building towards the source of the noise.
Emma, Sam, and Roberto heard Rahne's screams of horror and ran towards her, the boys moving faster than Emma.
Meanwhile, Dani was brought back to reality by Rahne's screams. She shook her head, attempting to fight off the affects of the drug.
Sam and Roberto found Rahne kneeling on the pavement outside the facility. She was shaking and covering her mouth.
"Hey, you all right?" Sam asked.
"What is it?" Roberto added.
Rahne took one hand from her mouth and pointed a trembling finger at something about twenty feet in front of her.
"It-it-"
"Holy shit," Roberto said as they saw what Rahne was pointing at. Even Emma, who had arrived shortly after them, could only gape in shock.
Lying in front of them, frozen and cut it many places, was the lifeless body of Illyana Rasputin.
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 15, 2020 14:36:29 GMT -5
Part 6
Sam, Roberto, Rahne, and Emma continued to stare at Illyana's body.
"I shouldn't have left her," Sam said at last.
Emma went over to Rahne and pulled her to her feet.
"What happened?" she demanded
"It-it was a monster," Rahne said, struggling to speak through her sobs. "It killed her."
Emma scowled and looked at the body again. "My superior is not going to be pleased."
"What won't he be pleased about?" a familiar voice asked in a Russian accent.
Everyone spun around to see Illyana standing behind them, completely unharmed.
"You're alive?" Roberto asked in shock. Illyana scrunched her face in confusion, and Sam gestured at the corpse in front of them.
"Huh," Illyana said as she finally saw what all the commotion was about.
"That's all you've got to say?" Sam asked. "I'd be a little more freaked out if I came across my own corpse."
Illyana knelt down to examine the body.
"Perhaps you can explain this?" Emma asked.
"Who saw this first?" Illyana asked, touching one of the body's frozen hands.
"I did," Rahne said. She was still trembling, but calmer now that she knew Illyana wasn't dead. "There was a monster standing over the body. It flew away when I screamed. I thought …"
Illyana frowned and squeezed one of the corpse's fingers, breaking off the frozen appendage.
"So that's it."
Illyana rose and turned to Emma with an angry expression while still holding the frozen finger.
"Where is Danielle Moonstar?"
Dani had barely made it to the door when Illyana appeared in front of her.
"Illyana," Dani said through heavy breaths. "I was hoping I'd find you."
Illyana glared at her. "It's been you all along."
"What?"
"I that it was Dr. Frost, but she couldn't have hurt Rahne like that. But it all makes sense if all you're doing is pulling people's fears and bringing them to life."
Dani grabbed Illyana's arm. "I don't know what you're saying, but we've got to get out of here."
Illyana shrugged her hand off and stepped back. "No. I've got to get out of here. You and I can't be in the same place."
"Please!" Dani begged. "We've got to protect everyone!"
"That's what I'm doing!" Illyana snapped. "By staying the hell away from you."
She turned around, and her fists shook with rage. "You're the one who attacked Roberto and hurt Rahne."
She looked at the frozen finger in her hand, which was beginning to disappear. "Now you've even hurt Lockheed."
"I saw something!" Dani yelled. "When Dr. Frost was testing me, I saw something … I don't think she wanted me to see."
Illyana turned back as Dani continued: "There were kids like us, being forced to do things."
Emma appeared at the end of the hall, walking quickly and angrily at them as Sam, Roberto, and Rahne followed her.
Seeing them approach, Illyana lunged at Dani. She grabbed the other girl and pushed her back and through a stepping disk.
Emma reached out to try to grab them, but the disk of light disappeared right before her hand passed through it.
"Where'd they go?" Rahne asked. "Where'd she take Dani?"
Emma snarled in frustration and stormed off.
"Re-engage all locks."
Dani landed hard on her back. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself to her feet.
Her mouth dropped as she saw her surroundings. She was standing on top of a cliff made entirely of black rock and soil. Thousands of feet below the cliff ran a large river of lava.
As she looked out over the horizon, Dani saw that that land was crisscrossed with more lava rivers and dotted with large, jagged mountains, several of which were volcanoes in the middle of large eruptions. Tornadoes of fire swept across the landscape.
"I know you're scared, but don't go running off. The only safe place here is with me."
Dani turned to see Illyana, now sitting calmly on a rotted black tree stump.
"What … is this place?"
"This is where I grew up," Illyana answered.
Dani gulped and looked around the hellscape again.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"Because here we can talk without Emma Frost listening in and without your power running amok. Now, tell me what you saw."
Dani was too frightened to answer, instead asking: "What are you?"
"Do you really want to know?"
Illyana sighed as Dani stood there silently. "If you want to get out of here then just tell me what I want to know."
Dani looked down. "I think the place I saw was where we go when Dr. Frost says we can leave. I think she wants to use us for something."
"As weapons," Illyana said.
Dani had to sit down. "They're building an army … of mutant children."
"About time someone else realized it."
Dani looked up at her. "That's why you –"
"Did you see where they are?"
"No. I only saw the inside."
Illyana looked away in thought.
"So, you don't know enough to be any use to me, but you know just enough to be a threat to Dr. Frost."
"We've got to go back!" Dani exclaimed. "The others don't know what she is!"
Illyana grew angry again. "Weren't you listening? You and I can't be in the same place."
She stood up and glared at Dani. "Emma Frost can't get in my head. But you can. And if you bring out any more horrors from my past, everyone is going to die."
Emma 's brow was furrowed as she went over the security footage from the latest incident. She was focused on the footage of Sam and Illyana's attempt to run away from the pack of monsters. What she really wanted to see what happened after Sam had run off and Illyana faced the beasts herself.
But when the footage reached the part where Illyana began to move towards her pursuers, a white light filled the screen, becoming so bright that no figures, human or otherwise, could be made out.
Emma rewound the footage and slowed it down, but it did not help. But even in slow motion, the light prevented her from making out just what Illyana did when facing the demons.
She sat back and turned to the screen which showed Sam, Roberto, and Rahne standing in the rec room.
"That does it," Roberto declared. "I say we find that force-field generator, smash it to bits, and get out of here."
"What about Dani?" Rahne protested. "We can't just abandon her."
"And what if it really is Dani that's been causing all this?" Sam asked. "What are we supposed to do about that?"
"It's not her fault," Rahne insisted. "Even if it was her power, she didn't know what was happening."
A disk of light appeared over the couch, interrupting the conversation. They watched as Dani fell almost from the ceiling and landed on the couch with a bounce.
Rahne immediately embraced Dani in a big hug.
"Where'd you go?" Sam asked.
Dani looked at him from over Rahne's shoulder and shook at the memory of where she had just been. "I don't know," she whispered.
"Couldn't have been worse than here," Sam said.
"Oh yes it could," Dani responded, "a whole lot worse."
"Where's Illyana?" Roberto asked.
Dani let go of Rahne and shook her head sadly.
"She's not coming back. We're gonna have to deal with Dr. Frost on our own."
Sam and Roberto looked at each other with grave expressions.
"Deal with?" Sam asked hesitatingly.
"We're not here to get better," she said gravely. "She's been using us all along."
Rahne slowly led them through the halls of the facility.
"I can't believe this," Roberto said. "I've been wanting out for a while, but she talked my parents into sending me here."
"You sure you know where you're going?" Sam asked Rahne.
"Yes." Rahne was hunched over and had an animalistic look in her eyes. "I can smell her."
The intercom turned on, and they heard Emma's voice echo through the hall.
"Today, I'd like to talk about gratitude. You children have been very ungrateful for all I've done for you."
Dani raised her head to look at the nearest camera. "What were you using us for?!" she yelled.
"All I wanted was to give you a purpose, a reason to live. And this is the thanks I get?"
"Since I am talking about gratitude, allow me to express my gratitude to you, Danielle."
"Me?" Dani asked.
"You drove Illyana away for good. That will make things so much easier. Having someone around whose mind is closed to me was such an inconvenience."
"Is she saying she's like Xavier?" Roberto asked.
"Go back to your rooms. Now that I know Danielle's power, we can work on controlling it so that nothing like this happens again. If you insist on this course of action, you will never be able to rejoin society."
"Like I've got any chance with you!" Dani snapped.
"Very well. Have your tantrum, children. But do not blame me for the consequences of your actions."
Rahne stopped by what appeared to be the door to a closet and sniffed the air several times.
"She's in there."
Roberto stepped forwards and grabbed the door handle. The others stepped back ais hand glowed orange, heating up the handle until it broke off, breaking the lock as well.
He pushed the door open, and the teens saw the control room for the first time.
Emma was largely hidden behind her chair. She pressed a button to switch off all the monitors before turning around in her chair to face them.
"It didn't have to be this way," she said, holding her hands together in front of her face ominously.
The kids entered the control room, and Dani said: "You're going to answer our questions."
Emma chuckled. "No. I don't think I will."
They began to take another step forward. Rahne was beginning to change, Roberto to glow, and Sam to shake.
Suddenly they stopped. Sam's and Roberto's powers turned off and Rahne was frozen halfway between her lupine and human forms.
All of them could not move. Their arms were frozen in mid-air, their mouths hanging open. Only their eyes could still move at all, twitching in fright.
Emma breathed a satisfied sigh and stood up. She walked in front of each of them. "Now, go back to your rooms and think about what you've done. Come tomorrow, you will all wish you had just listened to me."
"And what will you wish come tomorrow, Emma?" a male voice with a strong accent asked.
Emma's eyes widened in fright and she slowly turned around.
Behind her, hidden in shadow, stood a giant of a man. His glowing red eyes were the only facial feature visible in the darkness.
"Essex," Emma breathed.
"I'm disappointed in you Emma. You told me you had everything under control. Not only have you failed to keep control of five teenagers, but you let a prime candidate go with knowledge of our activities."
The red eyes narrowed. "This failure will have consequences."
Emma spun and glared at Dani with an expression of pure rage. Dani screamed and collapsed to the floor as the dark figure disappeared.
Emma took a deep breath to calm herself. "Now you've brought out my fears, haven't you, girl?"
Dani lay on the floor, bleeding profusely from her nostrils. Her face was contorted in agony.
"Why must children always be so willful?" Emma asked rhetorically. 'If you would just let me help you, none of this would be necessary."
She spared a glance at the other three, who were still frozen, before bending down and leaning over Dani. "I didn't want to do this. It is my last resort."
Dani attempted to lift her head up, but Emma put her hand on her forehead and held her down.
Danis's eyes twitched and she moaned as Emma began to use her power on her.
"Shhhhhh. Soon you'll understand. You'll know that I'm here to help you. And you'll all be good little soldiers."
As Dani lost consciousness Emma became aware of someone standing behind her. "Another phantom?"
"No," Illyana said. She extended her hand and Emma went flying out of the control room and crashing into the wall at a high speed.
Emma slumped against the wall and groaned in pain.
"So I was right," she said as she observed Illyana standing with her hand outstretched. "You do have a secondary mutation."
"You still think that?" Illyana asked as she stepped out of the control room. "I thought you'd have figured it out by now."
She gestured at the door, which was ripped from its hinges and dragged into the air by an invisible force. The door followed her hand motions and flew at Emma, crushing her against the wall.
"This isn't power that comes from some genetic mutation or something you're born with," Illyana said in a dramatic tone as she closed her fist. "This is the kind of power that comes from sacrificing … everything."
Emma's elbow burst through the door, surprising Illyana, who lowered her hand in response.
Emma threw the door off of her, displaying a newfound strength. She stood up, her body now made entirely out of shining white diamond.
She charged forward and smacked Illyana across the face, knocking her back into the control room and onto the floor.
Illyana spat out blood as Emma grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air.
"So … that's a … secondary mutation," Illyana said, barely able to speak as Emma began to choke her.
"It's too bad," Emma said. "I knew I'd have to remove you sooner or later, but I had wanted to learn all your secrets first."
Illyana grinned despite having her neck crushed by a diamond hand.
"I think … I just learned … one of your secrets."
Emma turned her head to see Roberto just behind and to the side of her, his face a mask of rage.
Roberto raised his fist and activated his power, causing his arm to burst into flame as he struck. Emma was knocked back from the impact, dropping Illyana, and fell onto the control room's monitors, breaking them.
She had no time to recover as Sam attacked next, blasting into her and taking both of them through the back wall and into the next room.
Roberto held out his hand to Illyana.
"You ok?"
Illyana looked relieved as she took Roberto's hand and let him pull her to her feet.
She massaged her neck as she spoke.
"It looks like she can't use her telepathy while she's in this diamond form."
"Got it," Roberto said, nodding as he followed after Sam.
"Dani?" Rahne asked, cradling her unconscious companion in her arms. 'Come on, wake up, please!"
Illyana grimaced in frustration. "I was too late." She bent down and put Dani's arm over her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Rahne asked.
"Frost did this to Dani," Illyana explained as she stood up holding Dani over her shoulder. "She might be the only one who can fix what she did."
Sam and Roberto were fighting Emma in a large room none of them had seen before. The walls were lined with large, high-tech machinery.
Despite the blows she had received, Emma's diamond form was still unhurt.
Sam attempted blast into her again, but this time she saw him coming and dodged the attack. Sam smashed into one of the large machines, causing it to break into a thousand pieces.
Outside, the force-field shimmered for a moment. The sky turned dark as something in the forest roared.
Roberto threw another fiery punch, but she caught his fist in her palm, the heat not affecting her in her diamond form.
"Do you really think children who fear their own power are a match for me?" she taunted before throwing Roberto to the ground.
Rahne leapt on Emma from behind, transforming slowly into her wolf form as she attempted to claw Emma's eyes out. As she reached the halfway form she had previously been frozen in, her claws became hard enough and sharp enough to tear several small gashes in Emma's cheek.
Emma screamed, in shock more than in pain, and threw Rahne off of her. She held her hand to her wounded cheek and looked with horror at the small shards of diamond on her fingers.
"You … brats!"
Roberto summoned his power in both arms and grabbed Emma by her arms. He used his own enhanced strength to throw her into a second machine which was against the wall, breaking it as well.
The lights in the large room went out as Illyana handed Dani's unconscious form back to Rahne and approached Emma, who was struggling to disentangle herself from the remains of the machine.
BOOM
There was a loud thud that shook the ground and nearly knocked them over.
"What was that?" Sam asked.
BOOM
Illyana took a deep, nervous breath and looked down at Emma.
"That was the machine that kept the force field up, wasn't it?"
Emma nodded, and Illyana closed her eyes.
"Shit."
BOOM
The third thud was louder than the previous two, and the shaking it caused knocked Sam into Roberto.
The teens and Emma all stared at each other in dread for a brief moment that seemed to last forever,
There was a great crash as four enormous white claws, each larger than a full-grown man, tore through the wall behind Emma like tissue paper.
The clawed paw withdrew from the wall, and they saw through the large hole that the sky had turned dark as night and it had begun to snow.
With a mighty roar, the creature which had stalked the facility the whole time revealed itself, shoving its massive head through the hole it had created in the wall.
It was a bear, but unlike anything any of them had ever seen. Only its head had come through the hole, but even that was several times larger than the rooms they had stayed in during their time at the facility. Its largest teeth were longer and thicker than their heads.
The deep red glow of the bear's eyes left a glowing trail through the air as it moved and its brown fur moved in an unnatural, almost liquidlike manner, giving the beast a ghostly appearance.
The bear lashed out at the nearest person, which was Emma, still lying amidst the remains of the force field generator. It seized her in her giant mouth and began to shake her around.
Emma screamed, her diamond skin providing no protection as the bear chomped down on her again and again, until at last, in front of the teens, it swallowed her whole.
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 16, 2020 12:39:33 GMT -5
And finally, part 7. I hope everyone's enjoyed this.
The teens ran back through the hole Sam had blasted through the control room's wall as the ceiling and walls collapsed under the bear's onslaught. Still carrying Dani, they hurried out of the control room and through the halls.
They ground shook again, causing them all to fall to the floor.
"It's hunting us," Roberto observed as they stood up.
Rahne held Dani close. "No," she clarified. "It's hunting Dani."
"Why Dani?" Sam asked.
"Because it's what she fears."
"So now she can make monster even when she's out cold?" Roberto asked.
"It's not one of her mirages," Illyana stated. "This one's real."
Illyana looked at the fear and desperation in the frightened faces of the others and steeled her expression. She put her hand on Roberto's shoulder to get his attention.
"Take Dani to a safe place," she said firmly. "I'll take care of this bear."
She stood up straight and turned around, summoning a large portal at the end of the hall.
"What are you going to do?" Rahne asked in a trembling voice.
"I'm going to play with it," Illyana answered. "Get her out of here."
They watched in awe as a silvery armor began to form over Illyana's right shoulder. Roberto in particular was frozen as the armor spread down her entire arm.
When the armor had spread to the tips of her fingers, a handle began to form in Illyana's hand. The handle extended into a medieval-style crossguard, from which emerged a long metal blade.
The sword glowed a blueish white as it reached its full length of nearly three feet, shining so brightly that the others could not look directly at it. The energy emitted from the blade burned a path through the floor as she continued to walk forward.
"Are you crazy?" Sam yelled, squinting from the sword's light. "That thing will kill you!"
"He's right," Rahne said. "It's magic."
Illyana stopped just in front of the portal and turned to them. There was no fear in her eyes, only determination.
"So am I."
Her eyes lit up with the same blueish-white glow as her sword and she turned to leap through the portal.
Roberto finally rose. "'Yana, no!" he yelled, attempting to run after her as the portal closed.
A light frosting of snow already covered the ground as Illyana stepped forward. The bear was still tearing through the section of the facility where they had fought against Emma.
"Demon Bear!" she yelled.
The beast withdrew from the building at the sound of her voice and turned to face her. Glowing red eyes met glowing white eyes.
"Are you here to consume our flesh or our souls?" She pointed her sword at the bear. "Here is my soul."
The bear gazed intently at the glowing weapon as Illyana assumed a battle stance. "Choke on it."
The bear roared and charged at Illyana, running on all fours. Illyana ran at the bear in response.
When they were just a few yards apart, Illyana plunged her sword into the ground and used it as leverage to push off, propelling herself high into the air. She slashed at the bear, running her blade along the length of its back, and making it roar in pain.
She skidded to a stop as she landed, kicking up snow as her feet slip along the ground, and gazed up at the bear.
Sam and Roberto were watching from a window as Illyana attacked the bear.
"Holy shit! Did you see that?" Sam exclaimed.
"I am going to marry that girl," Roberto declared.
The bear's water-like fur flowed over the wound on its back, filling it until it looked as if it had never been cut.
Now healed, the bear turned to Illyana again and stood on its hind legs, towering over her as its head reached higher than the top of the chapel.
It let out a roar far louder than any previous roar, causing windows to shatter across the facility.
As the roar faded, Illyana heard a birdlike noise from far above. Something small dive-bombed the bear at an extremely high speed, spewing super-hot blue flames at the monster's face
The bear swiped at the pest, but its small quarry was too small and fast. The fast-moving creature moved towards a safe distance as it neared the ground before landing on Illyana's shoulder.
Illyana smiled at the creature, a foot-tall purple dragon with large, adorable eyes.
"You up for this, Lockheed?"
The dragon opened its mouth wide and issued a sound similar to a bird's 'caw-caw.'
The others finally made it outside as Roberto smashed one of the side doors open.
Rahne was on the verge of collapse from carrying Dani.
"'Berto," she said, panting, "you've gotta take her."
Roberto shook his head. "I can't. I'll burn her."
"You won't!" Rahne insisted. "Please."
Roberto looked down at his hands and clenched his fists. His sleeves had burned away during the fight with Emma and he was shivering from the cold.
But at last he stepped forward and took Dani in his arms.
"This way," Sam instructed them. He led them to the chapel, where they quickly entered and slammed the door behind them.
Roberto set Dani down on the floor near the pulpit and Rahne knelt over her.
"Come on, please wake up."
Rahne moved Dani's hair out of her face, but she showed no signs of stirring. She took Dani's hand and held it as if she was praying.
"Let's live a little longer, Danielle Moonstar."
The bear dropped from its upright position, attempting to crush Illyana with its massive frame. Its front paws and head struck the ground with a tremendous impact which shook the ground for miles around.
Illyana backflipped out of the bear's path just in time and took a swipe at its nose as she landed.
The beast snarled as it healed itself again and lunged forward, seemingly enveloping Illyana in its massive jaws.
It turned its head in confusion at finding nothing in its mouth, only to collapse as Illyana stabbed her sword through its hind leg from behind.
Before it could rise, Lockheed was there, buzzing around its head like a fly and attempting to strike at the bear's eyes with his fire breath.
Roberto peaked out the chapel window to see how Illyana was doing.
"We've got to help her," he said.
"How?" Sam asked. "Fighting Dr. Frost was one thing, but we're not superheroes."
"Of course not," the voice of Sam's father said.
The teens looked up to see three figures standing at the chapel entrance. Sam's father, still wearing his mining gear, Reverend Craig, in his clergy uniform, and Roberto's ex-girlfriend, burned to a crisp, all stood before them.
Rahne looked down at Dani, who had finally woken up. The other girl was struggling to lift her head to see what was going on.
"You're killers," Roberto's girlfriends said as they stepped forward, her voice raspy from burns to her throat, "murderers."
"Demons and heathens," Reverend Craig added, "who must be punished."
"I'm sorry," Dani said. "I can't … I can't stop it."
"Don't," Sam said. He stepped forward to put himself between the three dead phantoms and his three friends. "I've got something I want to say to these guys anyway."
Sam took a deep breath before addressing the phantom of his father. "All this time, I thought you were my dad come back to punish me for what I did. Now I know you're not my real dad, you're just something I came up with to punish myself."
"My real dad," Sam struggled to continue, "my real dad, if he were here, would tell me how sorry he was that I was put in that situation, that he wasn't able to provide for us. He'd tell me that what happened wasn't my fault. I couldn't have known. No one could have known until it was too late."
"He'd say it wasn't my fault, but he'd also say that it would be my fault if I let it happen again. It would be my fault if I let my fear control me and never learned how to use this gift."
He turned to Roberto's girlfriend. "You too. What happened to you was a tragedy, but it wasn't Roberto's fault. He shouldn't have to the rest of his life for a mistake he had no control over."
Finally, Sam turned to Reverend Craig. "As for you, you got what was coming to you. You were never a man of god, just a cruel, hateful man. Rahne killing you wasn't even a mistake. It was self-defense."
Roberto, Rahne, and Dani looked at each other as Sam spoke. Rahne rose and she and Roberto approached their respective phantoms.
Roberto took his girlfriend's hand, his arms not flaring up.
"I'm sorry," he told. "I'm so sorry for what I did. I wish I could go back and change it. But I have to let you go."
Rahne looked Reverend Craig in the eye and said: "You don't own me, and you don't control me. You never did."
Sam nodded to them and turned back to his father. "We're not gonna let you haunt us anymore. We know what we are. We're mutants, and we're not going to be ashamed of that anymore."
Sam's dad closed his eyes and Roberto's girlfriend withdrew her hand as the three phantoms began to fade away, leaving the teens all alone.
Dani sat up and looked at Sam in awe. He, Roberto, and Rahne all gave sighs of relief, as if a great burden had been lifted from their shoulders.
Roberto turned to Sam. "So how about we do what mutants do?"
The Demon Bear swung its large claws at Illyana, attempting to impale her. Illyana summoned a portal to intercept its claws and make the monster impale itself in its side through another portal.
The bear roared and lashed out in a motion which was faster than before. This time Lockheed was unable to avoid its paw and was struck head on.
"Lockheed!" Illyana yelled, teleporting over to where he fell. She picked up the small dragon and raised her sword with her other hand to block the bear's follow-up attack.
Her blade sliced clean through one of the bear's claws, causing several feet of it to fall to the ground. Another claw raked against the armor covering her right arm, tearing off pieces of metal.
Illyana examined the damage which had been done to her armor in surprise and looked back at the bear. Its missing claw was already regrowing itself.
She scowled and raised her sword, now forced to fight one-handed while carrying Lockheed, whose wing was injured.
To her shock, something slammed into the bear's side at an incredibly high speed, knocking the monster over.
Sam continued past the bear and crash-landed, leaving a long trail in the snow.
The bear slowly stood up and turned to Sam, only for Roberto to appear, fully covered in fire and sunspots, and deliver a mighty punch directly to its face.
"What are you doing?" Illyana demanded as Sam collided with the bear a second time, again causing himself to crash into the snow.
"We're fighting for our lives," Roberto answered.
An arrow struck the bear behind its ear. The beast turned to see Dani standing in the open, holding a bow.
Ignoring all others, the bear focused on its prey and lunged at Dani, seizing her between its teeth the same way it had eaten Emma Frost.
"NO!" Illyana screamed as she watched Dani being eaten alive. But before she could react, another arrow struck the bear in the face.
Illyana gaped as Dani again stood in front of the bear, seemingly unharmed.
"You're kidding," the sword-wielding Russian said to herself as she realized what was happening.
The real Dani was still in the chapel, holding her hand to her temple as she summoned an image of the bear's greatest fear. Beside her, Rahne transformed into her wolf form.
The bear continued to attack the fake Danis, growing more wild and enraged with each one it 'killed.'
Sam approached Roberto and Illyana, rubbing his head from all the times he had crashed head-first into the ground.
"You all right?" Roberto asked.
Sam nodded. "At least I can't miss something that big."
"We'll never beat it like this," Illyana said.
"So what do we do?" Sam asked.
They saw Rahne running towards them in her wolf form. She changed into her human form just as she reached them and addressed Illyana.
"Dani sent me to tell you, she has an idea."
Illyana nodded.
The bear tore apart yet another Dani and turned to the next one, only to stop and turn towards the chapel.
Dani lowered her hand and gulped in fear as she realized that the bear was no longer fooled by her illusions.
The bear raised its paw and tore off the chapel's roof. Dani screamed as debris rained down on her.
One of Illyana's light disks brought Roberto there, and he stood over Dani, using his strength and heat to destroy the larger pieces of debris as they fell.
Sam rammed into the bear again knocking it over in a manner that made it fall towards Roberto and Dani. But Roberto clenched his fist and unleashed a powerful punch right at the creature's jaw, knocking it away from them and upwards.
The bear rose up on its hind legs and stood there for a long moment before it began to fall backwards.
As the bear landed on its back, its head fell through a portal which was far larger than any Illyana had previously summoned.
The bear's head landed in the hellscape Dani had seen earlier. As it looked up, another portal appeared above it. Illyana fell from this portal driving her sword straight into the bear's skull.
The bear's screams of agony filled the hellish realm, making creatures of all shapes and sizes scurry for cover.
Illyana snarled and sliced the bear's skull open, ending its cries.
On earth, the portal through which the bear had partially fallen closed, cutting off its head.
Illyana reappeared at sat down. The sword and armor disappeared and her eyes returned to normal. She looked at the body of the bear, which was starting to evaporate, and rubbed her sore muscles.
"Did we beat it?" Roberto asked.
Sam, Dani, and Rahne gathered around them, the latter holding Lockheed. The purple dragon leapt from her arms and ran to Illyana, not flying due to his injured wing. He jumped on her shoulder and rubbed his face against hers while cooing.
Illyana patted the dragon on the head and smiled, her first true smile since she first arrived at the facility.
Sam turned to Roberto, who was still on fire, and asked: "Aren't you going to turn off?"
Roberto shook his head sheepishly. "I kind of burned all my clothes. Hope our rooms survived all this."
They all looked up as the clouds began to clear, turning the night back into day.
"We're free," Dani said, putting her arm around Rahne's shoulder. "We're really free."
Later, Illyana knelt in the ruins of the control room as they all searched through the documents which had survived the two battles. Lockheed was still on her shoulder, his injured wing wrapped in a makeshift sling.
"You know," Dani said, "I really thought you weren't coming back."
"If I told you my real intentions, Dr. Frost would have read it in your mind," Illyana replied. She looked at Dani and shrugged.
"I guess I finally figured out how to lie."
Dani smiled and said "thank you."
"How'd you do all that?" Roberto asked. He had put on new clothes since the fight ended. "With the sword and everything."
Illyana looked down uncomfortably. "I'm more than just a mutant. I'm also a sorceress."
She looked up at them again. "A witch."
Rahne stepped back, also looking uncomfortable. She unconsciously rubbed her neck where the letter 'W' had been branded into her skin.
"And your doll was a real dragon the whole time," Sam said.
"It was Lockheed I saw before when I found your body. I thought he was another one of those monsters," Rahne said.
Illyana rubbed the bottom of Lockheed's chin and he cooed in response. "What you saw was Lockheed's biggest fear. That's how I figured out what was going on."
"He's been my only friend for so long," she continued. "There aren't any dragons in this world, so I turned him into a puppet so I could keep him with me. With his permission."
Dani shook her head. "It's not normal for people to talk to dolls all the time either."
Illyana looked confused. "I used to carry my dolls with me everywhere and I was always talking to them. No one ever said anything."
Dani's mouth fell open as she realized something.
"You said you grew up in that place. Just how long were you there?"
Illyana looked to the side in thought. "It depends on your point of view. Here only one day passed. But for me it was more like ten years,"
Dani let out a sad sigh. "There are things that are normal for little kids but are really weird when you're older."
Illyana frowned as she considered Dani's words.
"How'd you know what Dr. Frost really was?" Dani asked.
Illyana picked up a piece of metal. "Some of the things she said when she found me and was trying to convince me to come here were almost exactly like what the man who brought me to Limbo said, so I knew she wanted the same thing he did."
"And you couldn't say anything because Dr. Frost would read our minds," Dani observed.
Illyana nodded. "I was playing along with her until I could learn who she was working for." She threw the piece of metal aside. "After all that I don't even have a name."
"I do," Dani said. "Essex."
Sam nodded. "Dani made Emma see him right before you came back. Scary looking guy."
Roberto found a folder amidst the rubble and picked it up. "Essex Corporation," he read. "You know, I know some people who could probably get something off these hard drives."
Illyana looked at him in surprise.
"Essex is going to find out what happened here," Dani declared. "And he's gonna be coming after us. Like it or not, if we want to go back to leading normal lives, we're gonna have to deal with him first."
"I could probably get back to my normal life considering who my father is," Roberto said as he closed the folder. "But I think I'd like some payback. My family's got a few places we could stay."
"I'm in," Sam said. "I can't go home without getting arrested anyway. If they're looking to use other kids like they tried to use us, then I say we stop them."
Rahne looked uncertain, but nodded. "I've also got nowhere else to go."
Dani looked down at Illyana. "Looks like we're all joining your little crusade."
Illyana was flabbergasted. "I-I don't know what to say."
"How about 'thank you?'" Dani said.
Illyana struggled to get the words that were so foreign to her to escape her lips. "Thank you. I never thought anyone would help me, with anything."
"Mutants gotta stick together, am I right?" Roberto said with a wide grin.
Illyana stood up and addressed Dani. "Do you have it under control now? I meant what I said about it being dangerous for us to be in the same place. There are things I've seen that would give even that bear nightmares."
Dani looked to Sam. "I think I've got it now."
"Ok," Illyana said. "I also want to know why the bear was so afraid of you."
"You and me both."
Dani clapped her hands together and turned to everyone else.
"There are other kids just like us who are being turned into living weapons by the Essex Corporation. Let's show these bastards just how dangerous new mutants can be."
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