Players:
Guest Stars:
Cable and Lady Mastermind
Summary: Summary of what happened.
Date: March 24, 2012
Log Title: What happens now?
Rating: PG-13
NYC - Queens, Forest Hills High
To be written
Kai has spent the last few weeks on the move since leaving Barnes in order to avoid the eye of both SHIELD and HYDRA and battling with his conscence. Having recieved a text from Kevin letting him know that the White Queen/Emma Frost had agreed to meet him, waiting in his previous school's gym he doesn't look good the jeans and hoodie are dirty and ripped, his hair is diseveled and there are dark circles under his eyes also over the last few days he's had a constant pain in his head which suddenly turned up the pain meter this morning. Using what little energy he has left he creates some ice copies of himself to give him a possible distraction, in the dark he they might be hard to tell apart if he's lucky.
"Well…" Comes a voice that seems to be nowhere and everywhere at once, "Creative, but ultimately a waste of time. Both SHIELD and HYDRA have multioptics, and a standard infrared sweep would show no body heat coming from any of your friends there." There is still nothing to be seen in the gym at all, but the clack if high heels echoes through the gym, "Furthermore… I hardly think this was your best choice. Most agent-trained individuals I've known and interrogated in my time often times will stay off their known haunts, or beaten paths Mister Oaken… if that really IS your name."
"What can i say, not exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment", Kai focuses on the sound of the heels trying to figure out if the footsteps are alone, "With a little more rest i could've lowered my tempreture to match and this isn't really a known haunt most people i know, know i hate this place", he considers correcting Emma on his name afterall his cover is blown anyways, "Well what do i call you?, Miss Frost or the White Queen?"
Even those sounds are spread out all over the place, two steps behind, one to the side, and another up front. Eventually, they stop, and the voice changes as it speaks, going from feminine to masculine, running the gambit of tone and inflection, "So how do you even know I am who you believe I am? And what if you are not what you believe you are, hmmm?" The voice sounding almost demonically growly and low when the last part comes. And then suddenly there is a very real feeling of something cold and sharp prickling on the back of the young man's neck, "Nothing here is as it seems… so… give me something to believe in, Thirteen."
As Emma starts messing with him Kai tries to form some form of protective implement out of ice… and nothing, "No, not now". He winces a little at his name, "I don't know what i am so sorry you can't mess with me on that on…" he shudders at the feeling on the back of his neck and doesn't move, "What are you doing? wh…. argh!", he grunts in pain as his headache kicks it up big time for a few moments.
"Simple. I am assessing how much of a danger you truly are. To my students… to yourself. I know HYDRA, know how an organization like that works. You are a commodity. A thing. Useful so long as you remember your place. And probably filled with so many traps that unravelling you might very well kill you and everyone else around you." Says the voice, still in the deep and growling male tone, and then suddenly everything resolves into a fine steel saber not at the back of your neck, but at your throat. And it is not only Emma present, but two others. One a man with a glowing cyberbetic left eye and arm, and the other a petite and pretty blonde woman in a black and red bodysuit that leaves nothing to the imagination, even the thought that it might be body armor. The man has a rather large and intimidating looking weapon aimed at you, and the woman is just leaning on the doorframe of the gym entrance while smiling.
Emma herself says coldly, "Agent Thirteen of HYDRA, this is Cable, and Lady Mastermind. Make any sudden moves and I can guarantee that they will be your last. Now… if you want to live. Hold very… very still."
"Don't you think i know that? My have a number not a name and a brand, i'm barely more than highly trained cattle i'm not an Agent", all these things Kai has never questioned have been going though his head for a while now, his eyes widen in shock as he's finally able to see those around him, Emma has company but he almost relaxes a little, this almost maes it easier, "Ok, no moving, what are you planning to do with me?"
It's not Emma that speaks, but the man with white hair and the gun, who adjusts the setting on it a moment, and turns his head to watch the windows, "Kid, you're unexploded heavy ordnance right now. You could go off at any moment, and do one mother of a lot of damage to everything around you. The White Queen is going to do what she can, but the less you do, the less problems she has." Then his head turns, and he takes a heavy breath, "Regan, rooftop, hundred meters out."
The woman pushes off the door, and grumbles out, "I got it, I got it… honest to God, this paycheck is totally not worth putting up with your crap, Cable."
As the younger woman leaves, Emma begins to sweat, still not moving, her blade just wobbling a bit as her eyes seem to shift focus, and the pain in the back of your skull becomes worse… instead of just a pain, it feels like two honey badgers fighting, a rolling ball of snarling pain that caroms around inside your mind. "DON'T." She hisses out, "MOVE."
"DO what sh-ARGH!", Kai barely stops himself from clutching his head with his hands, HYDRA did a lot to him to give him a pretty amazing pain threshold but GOD it is so much worse when it's going on in your head. He tries to say 'What are you doing to me?' but all he can manage is "WRARGH!", rather than talking he focuses all energy on not moving an inch.
Outside, there is the sudden sounds of screaming, and someone landing in a very bad way on the ground, the crunch of bone making it rather obvious that whomever it was will not be getting back up. A few more noises are heard, energy weapon fire by the blistering in the air and bright contrails of plasma bolts lance out a few more times before the outside goes still. Cable moves to the other door, saying in a terse voice, "Emma, get that signal shut down NOW, or else we're going to get swarmed by HYDRA Agents. SHIELD is on standby, but they've already said if they come in they're taking the kid."
Emma replies in a strained but sing-song voice, "Patience… is a virtue, Nathan. Be a dear and go greet our guests." But as she speaks there's another wave of pain that seems to hit her just as much as it hits Kai, and the blade begins to wobble, but she begins saying, "Old King Cole was a merry old soul, and a merry old soul was he. He called for his pipe, and he called for his cap, and he…" Trailing off as the embedded command words start percolating into the young man's mind, the phrases supposed to tell him that he's been safely retrieved, and to stop the small transmitter in the back of his skull from pulsing his location. And this place suddenly becomes more familiar… this is where Thirteen was supposed to come for retrieval should his mission become aborted!
Kai's threshold has officaly been reached and he yells out in pain as he's hit with that final explosion of pain before he sees himself not too far from his origanal base, theres a wave of pure and utter dispair though the boys mind before it's silenced, "And he called for his Rattlers three, HAIL HYDRA!", a dark smile crosses the cyrokinetic's face, as he's back here he's probably gonna go kill something soon, he could use the workout.
The fighting continues outside, the sounds of weapons fire coupled with more than one rattling death cry of a HYDRA agent. Emma draws her sword back, and grins as well, before sheathing it at her side. The image changes to not Emma Frost, but rather Madame Hydra herself, complete withe the snake-styled green outfit, and the long black hair, eyes covered in her snake-eye mask, "Number Thirteen, my most loyal subject… forgive the deception, however necessary that it was." The s in each word becoming sibilant and almost hissed, "I command you to stand down."
XIII's smile disappears and he stands to attention as Emma is revealed to be Madame Hydra, he bows his head, "Yes Madame Hydra", he staightens back up and takes a step backwards, while he may have to miss out on what's happening outside, Madame Hydra's word is law and of course he is happy to obey.
Madame Hydra gives a low chuckle, "Very good. Very good indeed." As she turns to walk towards the hallway, something tickles at the back of the mind of XIII. Something is off about this. Madame HYDRA would never come directly to retrieve an asset like this. It would be one of the project's handlers. They are the ones who would come and retrieve him. With a team. Then another detail clicks into place. Madame Hydra is wearing boots, and yet there is still the sound of high heels dual-clacking on the gym floor. The sounds of violence continue to come closer outside, and the two X-men defenders are beginning to sound hard-pressed.
XIII frowns as Madame Hydra turns to walk away and those nagging inconsistances slip into the forefront of his mind, quietly he slips out of his shoes and tries to form a small knife out of ice… he can't, something else isn't right here. With his socks muffling the sounds of his footsteps XIII tries to use his enhanced speed to move as quickly as he can after 'Madame Hydra' while making as little nose as possible.
Whoever she is, she seems to be distracted at the moment, and her back is entirely open… a hand bringing up a small communication device to her ear to say something in a hushed tone…
XIII choses his moment carefully before using the best of his speed and strength to move forwards and grab the wrist of the hand holding the device and twist the arm behind her back while at the same time putting a hand around her throat and pullsing her back. If successful he'll ask, "Since when does the mighty Madame Hydra collect her Agents personally? Consider you answer carefully because though i don't know what you've done to my cyrokinetic abilities, i have more than enough strength to crush your windpipe".
The woman turns her head, and growls out, "What are you DOING! I command you to stand down, Number Thirteen! NOW!" And the sounds outside have gone still, a strange calm in the storm of noise and death that seemed to permeate the air. She gags under the grip, and coughs once more, and then begins to struggle weakly, "I am your Mistress! You will Obey Me!" And there is that conflict that goes through the XIII persona. The part of it that is deathly loyal to HYDRA, and the other part that is helping to question the inconsistencies.
XIII almost lets go for a moment as he tries to quickly assess the situation, "You have boots but walk to the sound of heels, why would you come for me personally?", he lessens the pressure on the woman's windpipe but holds firm, "I spent two weeks learning new techniques by training with another like me, what was his name?"
"Well… so much for that." The voice comes from Madame Hydra, but it is changed, softer now, with a Bostonian accent to it that almost sounds english, "But… at least we managed to draw you out. My name is Emma Frost, Number Thirteen… and I will be your trap today." And true to her word, suddenly the woman's form becomes like white silk cloth, wrapping around XIII from head to toe, attempting to bind him up. Across from the HYDRA entity appears again the same woman, back in her pristine white, but this time beside her is Kai Oaken, the other half of the equation, "None of what has happened here is real, Mister Oaken. It was all done inside your mind. Difficult but necessary to safely activate and contain this persona they buried inside your mind. I wanted for him to kill my mental illusion to spring the trap, but he seems a bit smarter than I gave credit."
At the moment that the white cloth begin to wrap him up XIII tenses up his muscles and then he's looking over at himself with this Emma Frost, no not him Kai Oaken.
Kai looks from Emma to the XIII version of himself and back again, as freaked out and afraid as he is, it worries him slightly that the full on HYDRA Agent him seems to be smarter than him, "What does this mean now?"
While Kai is speaking to Emma XIII takes that as his moment to try and escape, relaxing his muscles he tries to slip out of the white cloth.
Emma tsks softly, "Mantal construct, my dear boy… not thousand dollar a yard silk… but both would be effective." And with a grin Emma holds out her hand, and a white-hilted, silver-bladed saber appears in her hand, which she holds out to Kai, "This means that while I hold him in place, you kill the one thing holding you back from what you want. But be warned… this is something that will affect you for the rest of your life. Pieces of him will linger in your psyche… become a part of you. You will be free from HYDRA, but you will never be fully free of what they did to you."
Motioning behind her, the two figures from before reappear, looking as if nothing had happened, "To be fair… we must give HYDRA credit, their little implant in your skull was a peculiar beast to dig out, however… with help, we managed it quite well. The trick was making sure he showed himself, and got close enough to our little trap."
Lady Mastermind snorts and rolls her eyes, "THIS is the best that HYDRA has to offer? Psh… I had him wrapped around my little finger from word one."
The man next to her, Cable, knocks an elbow in the scantily clad young woman's side, "Be civil, Regan… insulting the young man isn't going to help him kill that thing."
The other woman replies, after rubbing at her side from the elbow, "I'm just saying…"
Kai nods and reaches out and takes the saber shaking, clenching his fist around the weapon he walks towards XIII.
"You think he has it in him to kill me? I live in your head, your weak, you won't be able to servive without me, how many times did you consider ending things over the last month, killing me won't get rid of their faces".
Kai shuts his eyes and shakes his head before opening them and preparing to strike.
"So your gonna kill someone else whose unable to defend themself? even after all that morality you've apparently gained?" XIII smiles as Kai falters for a moment, "See, he can't do it".
Emma sats from behind Kai, "You do not have a choice. If he gains control for even a moment, he will activate an implant that was placed so deep inside your brain that removal by surgery would leave you a vegetable. An implant that will signal HYDRA to take you back. And they will purge you from yourself, so only THAT is left." A finger pointing at XIII, "And then that, the thing that stabbed your friend… it will go back, and it will kill everything you've learned to care about. It will wear your face, and do all the fell deeds until it is either captured or killed… with no remorse, and no compassion. If your hands are bloody, then so are his."
Kai looks round at Emma as she talks his hand tightening on the weapon, after a moment he walks towards XIII without looking at him and stands there staring at the weapon, "You are the reason i'm a monster, if you're the last part of HYDRA left in me…", he nods to himself and looks XIII in the eye, "This is the last one", with one movement he plunges the saber as deep into the heart of XIII as he can.
Emma watches as the XIII consruct's features begin to crack and fall away, like the scales falling off a snake, leaving behind in it's wave green leathery skin. As more of it falls off, it reveals a giant green boa constrictor skewered in two places there, writhing on the blade as small motes of itself seem to float up into the air like ash, and begin to gust away. She then approaches the young man, and puts a hand on his shoulder, "Speaking as one former supervillian to another… however brief your career might have been… there's this unnerving gift of redemption that's put out there. But it will come at a cost. You still hurt someone, and you still have to face not only that crime, but the effects you had on young Mister Inada." The saber vanishes, and suddenly the room is dark, as if night had set in when Kai was not looking.
Kai doesn't look away for XIII until he's blown completely away, he looks at Emma as she speaks, "Jeremy, oh god, not just him, i've killed so many people and i didn't care up until a few months ago, their eyes…", he shakes his head and looks around as the room goes dark, "What happens now?"
The door behind Emma and her cohorts opens, and two SHIELD Agents step in, as she replies, "Now they take you back, give you a full medical examination to find any other surprises that were left behind. What happens from there is up to you… and them." After that she lets her hand fall away, and turns to walk off, "Thank you for your patience gentlemen. Tell Director Fury, and Mister Wilson that I hope this settles our debt, for now."
Kai nods at Emma finding himself unable to move just yet but as Emma begins to walk off he calls after her, "HYDRA has others, XII is a pyro and besides him i think there are at least eleven others who have been though the same as me, HYDRA may lay low but they may send others", with that he walks over to the SHIELD Agents.
As one agent takes a pair of binders off his belt to secure Kai, the other says, "Son, we'll have plenty of time for you to tell us what you know. But for now we're going to have to take you in. Come on… there's some hot coffee on the chopper, and we've got sandwiches back at base. You look like you could use something."
Emma departs first, then the Lady Mastermind, and finally Cable, who stops and watches the young man for a long moment… and then for some reason he gives an almost approving nod before too vanishes into the night…
