The Xavier School- Thursday later morning
Kitty
Kitty next checked on the students, who seemed to all be asleep still. She'd hoped taking Emma out would wake everyone up, so it had to be one of the others. Nova, or that kid... Megalithic something. So she was still on her own, and she didn't really know the bad guys she was left with. But fine, if she could access the file room-
As she turned from the room, she ran almost right into Logan, eliciting startled noises from both of them. "What are you doing here?" Kitty demanded. "I told you to hide."
Logan
"Well, I... You're a girl," he explained. "And if there's danger about, I... Well, it isn't right for a Howlett to hide behind someone's skirts. I shan't prize my life above my honor. Unless you think it's a good idea."
Kitty
Awwww, Kitty was proud of him.
And then she felt a piercing pain in her head that made her double over in pain.
The White Queen
"It's time, Pryde," said a cloaked figure from the other side of the hall. "At long last, it's time for you to make yourself useful. Forget what you're thinking. Emma Frost may have been easy- embarrassingly easy- to take out, but she was never a match for... the White Queen!"
And with that, the figure shrugged off the cloak to reveal what looked very much like original flavor Emma Frost.
Kitty
Kitty blinked.
And blinked.
"Yeahbuhwhat?"
Logan
Logan- or whoever Logan thought he was at the moment- had no idea what was going on. Especially when a moment later, Kitty's face went blank and she started heading down the hall muttering, "Box."
And while he was worried about what the odd woman in white and not very many clothes might do to him, she turned and left, leaving him wondering what to do now.
Kitty
When you had someone who could break an endless phase out of sheer determination, the way to really get her to do what you wanted was to shut her off.
So Kitty wasn't really aware of what she was doing, going down to the basement of the school, finding a strange box that had been hidden down there and pulling it out. It was like a waking dream. She tried phasing, learned that she couldn't just get through it unless she worked, and tried to force her hand in there forcibly.
That hurt. There were certain materials, like adamantium, that were too dense and would cause her actual pain. This was one of them. But since she wasn't really awake, she knew it hurt, but kept going anyway, even at one point she thought she heard herself screaming.
She finally stopped, deciding she should continue in a moment even though she wasn't really aware that this was too much for her to handle. It was weird to feel tired in a dream, but she did. And it seemed like the second she finished removing her hand from partially inside the box, she fell asleep for real.
Clint
Clint had woken up with a whole lot of feelings - fear, a touch of nausea, and more than a little anger - and was stalking around in search of... well, anyone.
He was going to stop visiting the mansion at this rate, assuming he'd be allowed back after punching Emma like he wanted to.
Peter
Peter had also woken up, and was still wandering around shirtless and shoeless, though he had a little more of a purpose. And he was actually glad to see Clint, because then someone was around.
"Basement," he greeted him.
Clint
Clint totally wasn't paying attention to how buff shirtless Peter was compared to himself, honestly.
"Basement?" he asked, still a little confused. Then he turned and noticed where they were. "Oh, the basement, yeah. After you."
Peter
"I was told to come here and help," Peter explained, opening a door to let Clint through first. "I- Is that sound shooting?"
Because it really did sound like gunfire coming from ahead.
Clint
Clint's reaction was to head towards the sound, which was why Kitty would likely be going gray at an early age. Assuming she was still here and was all right, of course. "It doesn't sound good, that's for sure."
Scott
Peter ran with him, and when the door was opened, they found Scott without his glasses, kneeling over the bleeding body of an old school-looking Emma, calmly firing shots from his gun. Kitty was off to the side in front of a weird-looking box, still unconscious.
"Hey," Scott said conversationally. "You would not believe the day I'm having."
Clint
Scott being awake and upright and not zapping them in spite of his glasses being missing was cool and all, but Clint's first concern was his unconscious fiancee. "Kitty?" he said frantically. He rushed over and knelt down beside her, looking for any signs that she was hurt.
Scott
"She's fine," Scott assured him as he fired another shot into Sebastian Shaw's gut. "I'm trying to get her to wake up."
Clint
"Really?! Because it looks like you're just shooting that guy," Clint said, giving Kitty a soft shake.
Scott
"Please, I'm an X-Man. I don't shoot people," Scott said, firing off another shot into (sigh) Negasonic Teenage Warhead. "I'm just trying to make a point."
Clint
"Is that point that you're a mentally fragile guy with a gun?" Because that was exactly how people kept from being shot as well, yes.
Scott
"Partly," Scott said honestly.
Kitty
And that was when Kitty startled awake, yelling something mostly indecipherable about a box.
Clint
"Whoa! Kitty, hey, it's okay," Clint said soothingly, trying to grab her arm. "Relax, you're okay now." Or, she was awake, at least.
Scott
"Almost," Scott said, kneeling by them. "What's in that box will destroy us, destroy everything if we don't stop it. You've got to save Emma."
Clint
"Does saving involve punching? Because that's my vote," Clint said. Hopefully, Kitty didn't mind the way he wasn't letting go of her just yet.
Scott
"You don't know the whole story yet," Scott explained. "Emma's the only chance we have of putting this to rest."
Clint
"Of course she is," Clint said, sighing. "So, where is she?"
Kitty
Ugh, Kitty had definitely had better wakeups than this, and she still felt tired from trying to get in the box- she guessed that was real?- and she really didn't want to help Emma, but she trusted Scott.
"I stuck her in a cavern in the ground to think about what she did," Kitty admitted. No shame. "I'll get her."
Clint
And that would be Clint making a mental note to never really piss Kitty off. "I'd tell you to take your time, but I guess that's not an okay option," Clint said, giving Kitty's arm a squeeze. "Do you want me to go with you in case she tries anything else?"
Kitty
"There's not enough room down there," Kitty said. Yeah, best to stay on her good side. "Be right back."
And even tired as she was, she right on and fell through the floor.
Scott
By the time Kitty popped through the ceiling of the cavern in which she'd left Emma and dragged her back up whether she liked it or not, Hank and Logan, both back to themselves, had found the basement, along with Hisako, who'd been pulled into this out of sheer bad luck in being wake.
And once everyone was back, Scott said, "There is no Hellfire Club."
Clint
Clint looked around at the others, trying to gauge their reactions before he spoke up. "I can't tell if that's a good thing or not. I mean, it sounds like a good thing," he finally said.
Hank
"I saw Cassandra Nova," Hank protested.
He was in a suit, because after being a feral beast and eating part of Logan he felt the need to be the exact opposite of that right now. It'd been a day.
Peter
"I was beaten by Shaw," Peter added.
Kitty
"And there was some kid with a stupid name," Kitty said.
Scott
"Did any of you ever see more than one of them?" Scott pressed. "At a time? Everyone was attacked, all psychically."
Peter
"Shaw's attack was not psychic," Peter argued. He'd felt that attack, thank you. It took a lot to knock him out.
Scott
Scott shook his head. "I couldn't move, Pete, but I was conscious in that lab. Shaw was never there. I've been 'shooting' her manifestations. She can't maintain them. They fade."
Clint
"So Emma's messing with all of us herself. Yeah, taking her out of her hole in the ground was a great idea," Clint said.
Scott
"I don't think she is," Scott said, glancing at Emma, who was sitting still and not responding to any of this. "She said it herself. 'Her own private hell, courtesy of Cassandra Nova.' And what's in the box is host to Cassandra Nova's consciousness, which she'd need to transfer into a new host body."
Sorry, Kitty. That would have been you.
Hank
"Of course," Hank said, getting it. "It was Emma who stuck Nova's consciousness into that blob in the first place."
Logan
"So Nova does a Hail Mary into Emma's brain before she fades..." Logan added.
Scott
"One tiny suggestion," Scott nodded. "Too small to notice, but clamped on to Emma's greatest weakness, feeding, growing... creating an entire reality for her."
Hank
"And that weakness is?" Hank had to ask, since... Emma.
Scott
"Guilt," Scott replied. Emma still wasn't volunteering anything. "Guilt about falling in with Shaw, becoming the White Queen, failing her students in Genosha... surviving. Survivor's guilt is undeniably powerful. The randomness of who lives, the responsibility towards those who didn't... There's a voice in her telling her she's evil. She's always been evil. That even Genosha was all her fault. And she thinks that voice is hers."
Kitty
"No," Kitty snapped. "Doesn't anyone care what she did to us? She reduced us all to nothing and you've giving us an insanity plea?"
Clint
"I know you'll all think I'm biased, but I have to agree with Kitty here." Clint was glad he wasn't the only one feeling that way, to be honest.
Hank
"Following Scott's logic, what Emma did was confront us with our worst fears," Hank pointed out. "Which we faced. And here we stand."
Kitty
"No," Kitty insisted. "She's been weird for a year. A year! She's been plotting against us this whole time, and I don't want to hear you guys making excuses for her! News flash, we all have guilt! Welcome to being a superhero."
Clint
"I thought you guys talked to each other about stuff. And there's your little army of telepaths." They were all still creepy, sorry girls. "How did no one figure out she was in trouble?"
Scott
"She's a better telepath," Scott said matter-of-factly. "Look, I've lost my power. I mean, I'm not 'cured,' but I can't even begin to access it. Emma broke me right down and I'm... I'm seeing really clearly."
Kitty
"Yeah, me, too. She betrayed us all, brought me here to open a box," Kitty pressed, "which means we'd all be screwed-"
Scott
"Kitty, understand," Scott said calmly, "Cassandra brought you here to open the box. What Emma brought you here to do was to take her out."
Kitty
He might, might have a point. Emma had flat-out told Kitty she'd brought her there to watch her. If what she'd really thought she could get Kitty mad enough to actually put an end to things once and for all...
Well, then Kitty wouldn't give her the satisfaction. So she dropped the fight and took a good ten steps in the opposite direction just so she wouldn't have to look at Emma or Scott.
Clint
Clint sighed softly and moved about half that distance, to put himself between Kitty and the others. "As usual, visiting all of you is so relaxing," he said.
Kitty
"People need slapping," Kitty stated simply.
Scott
Scott knelt before Emma, and spoke quietly just to her.
"If you can hear me, Emma, her this: you can send Cassandra back. You have a choice."
Emma
During all of that, Emma had stayed silent, fighting with her own mind, or rather what else was in it.
"Go to hell."
She wasn't talking to Scott.
Ord and Danger
That was when the door opened, and through it burst Ord and Danger. She had her arms morphed into blades and they were both immediately on the attack, just in case anyone thought today was going to get better as the day went on.
Peter
Peter figured they went for him first because he was the closest to the door, so he armored up and prepared to fight.
And before it could come to anything but initial blows, there was a bright light, and everyone in the basement vanished.
[NFB, NFI, OOC just dandy! Preplayed with the lovely so_hawkward and heavily adapted from Astonishing X-Men.]