If you want to help me financially, you can do it on https://www.patreon.com/NeverluckySMILE
Ralph Zegerisk was one of many bodyguard/driver the Frost family, specifically assigned to Winston's protection detail today. Unlike his daughter Emma, Winston had no powers to protect himself with nor did he believe that anonymity alone could do the job. Thus he used a team of three of them chosen randomly to be his guards and drivers. The randomness of the detail was supposedly to keep any of his business enemies from knowing his schedule or and successfully suborning his guards. The reality of it however was the Winston had as much or more to fear from his children than from any enemies. The extent this was true however was not known by the guards, but it would not have saved him even if he had.
Emma sat alone once more eating breakfast before heading out again to the Hellfire Club, but while her body was going through the motions, her mind was busy delving into Ralph's mind like an invisible hand, sifting through his mind, implanting orders deep that would only be triggered under certain stimuli.
She had told her father about her power when she was young and naïve enough to think that he might in fact care for her despite his cold exterior, but she had learned that lesson well, and never told him how it had grown as she had, grown to the point that she could read the mind of anyone within two miles of her own location if she so chose. And she never told him that she could plant suggestions along with simply reading their thoughts, and could in fact override another person's brain entirely. Of course that lacked subtlety, and she couldn't keep it up for long. Implanting suggestions, while taking far longer and more of her attention was longer lasting, and it would take another telepath to find them and deactivate them before they took control. After the fact, there would be no evidence of their existence.
The solution to her father's downfall was almost boringly simple and based off something she had found while practicing her powers over a year ago. It turned out that while her father did not partake in the pleasures offered by the Hellfire Club, that was because he preferred to keep his indiscretions closer to home where he could control them. Despite having no more warmth than a particularly cold corpse the man did in fact have affairs on the side. Whether that had helped aid her mother's deterioration Emma didn't know. What she did know was that one of his most frequently used women was a maid, who had, six months ago married one of his bodyguards. The affair hadn't ended after that marriage, but the bodyguard had no clue about it.
Or didn't until Emma put her little mental suggestion into his mind. Now the man was a time bomb, waiting to go off at just the right moment.
Emma felt no remorse about this, it wasn't as if the man was himself a saint given some of the things she had found in his mind. There was a reason he had been dishonorably discharged by the military before he went to work with the Frosts after all. She simply considered it a case of postponed justice in a way. The man's reaction would also easily be in character, thought out, bloody, and very direct. If she felt sorry for anyone it was his children, who thankfully really were his. At least as far as Emma knew. She was certain they weren't her fathers, but hadn't read the mind of the maid to see if her father was the maid's only indiscretion. When Emma took control of the family she would have to see to it they were looked after. After all, there was no way she could keep their mother on in her employ if the whole sordid affair came out.
You will soon learn father. No matter how much you try to deny it, you too are human, and therefore vulnerable. I only regret I won't be there to see your face when you realize it.
Done with planting a suggestion in the last of the family's bodyguards, she got up and met up with her own driver/bodyguard and headed for the Hellfire Club Almost immediately upon entering she heard a loud voice hail her from one of the booths by the stripper' platform. "Isn't it a school day Mrs. Frost? We wouldn't want your education to suffer, would we?"
Emma theatrically rolled her eyes and moved over to Donald Pierce, who today seemed to be partaking in the clubs offerings rather than engaging in wheeling and dealing. "You know very well I don't have to show up for the blasted review sessions Donald, why waste my time there when I can be doing something useful."
Emma ordered a glass of orange juice, it being far too early in the morning for alcohol, and then merely glanced up at the dancer who had captivated Pierce's attention. "I was going to ask what brought you down here among the rank and file but I believe I can guess. Asset acquisition is it?"
Donald chuckled. Since her debut at the club, he had been amused by Emma's trenchant wit, and found her much more approachable than her father. Oh she could do the whole Ice Queen thing even better than Winston could at times but whereas he was cold all the way through, it was obvious that Emma had hidden depths underneath. Her wit too, was fascinating and her ability to research, analyze data and her business acumen were a credit to her family. "More like a free preview of the new stock my dear. After all why buy when you can rent?"
The dancer didn't respond to their jokes having been well trained, or possibly because she didn't speak English. Given her Asiatic features that was a possibility. Pierce sat back, looking between the dancer and Emma, and even without her powers Emma could tell he was comparing the two of them, but rather than take umbrage she merely leaned back and let him continue, one eyebrow raised questioningly.
After a moment Donald noticed and chuckled before asking "So are you merely going to continue your meet and greet sessions with the, as you put, rank and file, or have you something specific in mind for the day?"
Emma shrugged. "We will see what comes up won't we?" She glanced up at the dancer and then rolled her eyes as Donald began to laugh, leaving him then to head over to the bar to collect her drink, leaving his mind with the mental suggestion that yes, Emma was a better Frost to represent the family then Winston, and he was happy to see the other man go.
It wasn't the first such suggestion she had planted in the minds of the members here, and it wouldn't be the last either. Eventually none of them would care enough about her father to investigate his death or mourn his passing. They would also be wary of her anger and business acumen so wouldn't attempt to take advantage of the turmoil following his 'tragic' death. The only two she hadn't tried to do this to were Leland and Shaw, however in their case she had made herself seem like an ally and a burgeoning friend, much more than the mere business associate her father had been.
Shaw was a problem in the long term, simply because the man had mental defenses that were too good for her to circumvent without him knowing she had. On top of that worry which she could have borne, she had the impression he had several plans going forward, and she could feel him measuring her several times in the past few days since she had been presented to the Inner Circle. She could also tell it sometimes bothered him that he hadn't tried to physically prove his dominance over her, but he hadn't tried to push past Harry's 'first defense' charm yet.
It was still early days of course but she was well pleased so far.
She spent the next few hours in quiet reading then looked up as Paris and Edward came through the front door. Paris saw her and moved over to talk to Emma, her face wearing a small but warm smile for the younger woman and possible protégé. Yes, Emma reflected,as she stood up with a small answering smile on her face, I've planted dozens of seeds here already, now I just have to wait and see if they bear fruit the way I wish.
OOOOOOO
Ororo and Harry slept in the next day, laid out one on the other, one of Harry's wrists still tied by a silk tie to the bed stead above their heads.
Harry woke up and the first thing he saw was white on a milk chocolate background. He realized it was Ororo and her hair when he lifted his head and realized he had been using her chest as a pillow. That probably explains why that was possibly the best night's sleep I've ever had.
He was actually tempted to wake her up for some more fun, her dark chocolate nipples beckoning his mouth to suck and nibble again, but then he shifted in place and winced, his hips complaining of the abuse he had put them through the night before. His abs were incredibly sore as well. Yeah, not going to be up for more fun just yet. He smirked widely, running one hand down her sides, causing her to mumble and shift in her sleep. Give me a few hours of rest then we'll see!
His smile turned gentle as he looked down at his lady, idly using his magic to untie the knot in the silk rope that bound one of his wrists to the head piece of the bed along with the one that tied one of Ororo's legs down at the foot. She shifted slightly as he did so, and her eyes began to flicker open.
Ororo woke up, her body deliciously sore and knew for a fact that she would be walking with a limp despite how gentle Harry had been throughout the amazing night together. She opened her eyes and looked up at Harry, her lips curved into a serene smile.
Harry returned her smile, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers. "I love you, my goddess, and I hope that this is the first of many times I wake up with you next to me."
Ororo chuckled throatily, leaning up and pecking him on the lips. "Oh, I think you can take that as a given, my heart." The two cuddled for a bit, then reluctantly got out of bed to start their day.
With the elves gleefully watching (and playing and singing horribly off-key) with Melody, the two of them felt safe enough to leave her alone for a bit. Ororo had to return to the institute, as she had promised Evan, Rogue and Kurt that she would help them study for their history finals as well as look at their final essays for Language Arts. She would also be informing Charles that she would be leaving after the school year ended. Harry would return eventually to move his few personal items out, but that could wait.
"I'm going to get in touch with Reed and the FF. I want to finalize our deal for a few of their special uniforms, introduce them to High Note and start work with Reed there, and get his help on a little something else." Harry said, as the two finished eating a quick late lunch, half-sized sandwiches with pears and orange juice made up by one of the house-elves.
Ororo nodded, still smiling the faint, but incredibly happy smile she had worn since waking up. "Would you mind assigning one of the house-elves to come with me then? I don't want to rely on you for my transportation needs."
The head elf popped in at that point, bowing to his lord and lady. "Does Miss Orry…" He faltered under her sudden glare, gulped, and went on, "Err… I means, I mean does Miss Ororo have a preference?"
Ororo nodded this time with approval, causing the elf to beam happily. "I would like one of the ladies to come with me, preferably one of the ones that worked with me on the carpet project."
A moment later a young female elf popped in, and unlike the head elf, when she spoke it was clear she had already taken Ororo's language lessons to heart. "I'm Lissy miss, I worked on the first floor and the dungeons."
Ororo reached down and gently shook the little creature's hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Lissy. We'll be buying some carpet examples, and I will be trusting you to transport them without being seen, much like we did with the furniture we bought yesterday, and for transporting me back here when we're done." She frowned a little while the elf nodded in the affirmative, looking over at Harry. "The time difference between here and New York is going to catch up to us you know."
Harry shrugged. He could use his magic to keep himself awake, and he had seven remaining pepper-up potions for Ororo and Jean. "Don't worry about it love, in the great scheme of things it really doesn't matter."
After the meal was over, the two of them and Lissy teleported back to the institute. Thanks to the time difference, it was barely ten in the morning, and the kids had all left for school, even Jean much to her irritation.
Charles and Logan were there however and the older man was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs as they came down. "Ororo, Mr. Potter, good to see you back and safe. Jean's message didn't really tell us much about what you were doing."
Harry shook his head. "Grieving mostly Charles, but it's not so interesting a story I want to share it more than once. Suffice it to say it was very bad, but I am now in a position to move out on my own. I'll keep in touch of course, but I'll be moving my things out later this week."
Charles nodded, he knew all too well about sad stories and grieving. As for Harry moving out, that didn't bother him at all indeed it relieved him a bit. The two had clashed on several things large and small after all, and while they both shared the dream of coexistence, Harry had very different views of how to achieve it. Charles didn't really mind being questioned he did mind being challenged in his own home and Harry just by being here was a challenge to his position of authority.
The next bit however distressed him greatly. "And I will be joining him after the school year ends professor." Ororo said.
Charles was about to protest this, but realized that it would be pointless, and really it wasn't like he hadn't seen this coming. The two of them had fallen for one another faster than most he had seen, but their emotions were true. And while it had been a long time since he had been with a woman, the smile and glow Ororo was exhibiting at the moment was obvious. It would leave a hole in their forces, but not an insurmountable one. "Can I ask you to remain as a teacher until I find a replacement Ororo?"
The two lovers looked at one another and after a moment Ororo nodded. "That will be fine professor, and it's not like we're cutting off all contact. Harry just won't be living here, and I will no longer be part of the X-men. Scott and Logan between them should be able to fill in as combat instructors, and I will be happy to help you find a replacement language art teacher."
Charles nodded, there wasn't much else to be said really, and he went to his room to start searching for another language teacher. He did however have one parting shot. "Do remember to tell Ms Pryde and the others, will you?"
Harry and Ororo both looked at one another then shrugged. Harry was going to keep in contact with his runic apprentice anyway, so hopefully she wouldn't take it too badly.
Harry worked on his computer for a time, thinking up how to put in a generator to power electronics. Runes would eventually burn out the systems they were inscribed on, much like what had happened the night before with the DVD player. The more complex, the faster they burned out. While ambient magic didn't seem to do anything to tech, direct and prolonged exposure was something else entirely.
After packing some clothing for when she was at the castle Ororo left with Lissy to buy some different carpet types to look at back at the castle. While she really didn't care so much about interior design, she did know what she liked, and what would go with the castle. The plans going forward for the castle weren't finalized, but at least the uppermost floor would be living quarters whatever happened, so that was where she concentrated her efforts for now.
After that Harry used his computer to get in touch with Reed. The older man was looking distracted as he answered. "Yes, oh, Harry, um, is there something wrong?"
"That's the question I should be asking you," Harry answered, looking at him shrewdly. "What's wrong now?"
Before Reed could answer Johnny's voice was heard in the background. "Is that Harry, get his magic using ass here right the fuck now! We haven't had any luck, let's see if he does!"
Harry's eyebrows rose. "Well, I was calling to ask your help in a little project now, and to introduce you to the orbital installation I talked about the last time. But since this sounds important, I'll help with whatever Johnny's shouting about. But in return could you set up a cell phone for me with two phone numbers, and a screen that could tell me which one is being called?"
Reed nodded. "That is more than a fair trade, and I will be very interested in seeing your orbital installation later, but we are having a bit of a crisis here."
"We'll be there in five minutes Mr. Fantastic." Jean's voice said, and Harry looked up to see her standing in the doorway, with Scott right behind her. They had come home early from school, not needing to attend their history or mathematics classes anymore. Jean had an A in both classes up to this point, and neither of the teachers in those classes was as anal retentive as her physics teacher, who was still actually teaching stuff that would be on the final with only a week and a half to go. Scott too, was an ace student in fact his history score was better than hers.
The redhead almost glared at Harry, daring him to tell her no, and Scott nodded firmly, not willing to let this chance go by to see how well he would do in the big leagues.
Harry rubbed his face for a moment thinking then nodded decisively. "You heard the lady. Reed we'll be there in a bit." After that he cut the connection and looked the kids over. "Alright Red, go get your uniform on." The redhead grinned and left quickly. He then turned to Scott. "This might be nothing, it might be something simple. It also might pit us against an opponent in the same league as Magneto. If you're ready for that, you can come with us."
To his credit Scott did actually think for a minute before nodding. "Good, then go get your suit on. And remember they don't need to know your real name, so call-signs only once we get there. I trust the FF, but if we leave the Baxter Building to wherever, who knows who may be listening."
Scott nodded and raced off. Minutes later the trio was gone.
Once again a note was left for the others on the coffee table. This one said 'The FF seems to need some magical aid for some reason, brought Phoenix and Cyclops with me. Be back in a bit hopefully. If Ororo is reading this, love, Harry. If anyone else is reading this, cheers, Harry'.
OOOOOOO
Harry, Jean and Cyclops appeared in one of Reed's labs, and were greeted by Reed immediately. "Hello Harry, I'm glad you could come at such short notice. Give me half an hour and I'll be able to set up a cell phone like the one you described. I recognize Phoenix, but who is this?"
Harry nodded. "That would be fine Reed, and this is Cyclops, he's the X-men's field leader."
Scott stood forward hand outstretched. "Good to meet you sir."
"Good to meet you, though hopefully we won't need the extra firepower." Reed shook the young man's hand firmly, mildly amused by his formality, but hoping he would prove as useful as Storm had been. The weather wielder had impressed him with her powers, though it had also worried him. Mutants had such diverse and odd powers at times, he was concerned about the effect they would have on the world.
He led the newcomers down two floors to the sitting room, where Harry saw a very strange scene. The rest of the FF as well as Agatha were there, with Susan holding Franklin as well as two new people and the largest dog Harry had ever seen. The thing looked like it weighed as much as two draft horses and was built like a bulldog save for a strange antenna like thing high up on his forehead. He was just standing there, tall as a normal adult at his shoulders, looking at the baby who was making baby noises at it and trying to escape his mother's arms to check out the giant creature.
In comparison the other two unknowns seemed relatively normal, except for the minute details. One was a short bald man with incredibly intricate tattoo-work covering his face, wearing bracers on his arms and what looked like some kind of warrior monk outfit. At the moment he was perched on one end of a sofa with a small cup of tea in his hands, the picture of calm.
The other man was definitely not the picture of calm. He was taller and bulkier with a full beard was wearing something that looked like it would be at home on a woodsman and some kind of metal forehead protector. What was oddest about him however were his feet, which were actually hooves, much like a horses. He was snarling slightly, one foot tapping on the ground.
His irritation seemed to be shared by Johnny, who was pacing the room. For once however Ben wasn't trying to wind him up or anything, simply sitting in one of the specially reinforced sofas and surveying the scene. He was the first to spot the newcomers, and his rocky face broke into a smile. "That was quick Potter."
"Apparitions do tend to cut down on travel time." Harry said with a chuckle as he walked over to say hi to Franklin.
But he stopped momentarily and looked over at the bearded newcomer. "You're not some kind of satyr are you? I've always felt those were particularly obnoxious sounding monsters from antiquity. Hey little mate, how're you doing?" Franklin turned from looking at the interesting looking large thing to burble happily at his old friend then giggled even more as Harry lifted him out of his mother's arms.
The man who was so addressed rolled his eyes, yet the question seemed to have calmed him down a little. "You are not the first one to confuse me with those creatures, but no I am not a satyr, my name is Gorgon, and this is Karnak and Lockjaw. We are here searching for our cousin Crystal." How desperate that search was and how important, was something neither he nor Karnak was going to share.
Johnny looked anxiously at Harry. "She left here around a month or so before we met you Harry, and she should have, um…she should've gone straight home." He avoided mentioning where that home was, knowing the Inhumans were anxious to keep Atilan a secret. "But for some reason these three showed up this morning saying she hadn't made it."
Harry raised one eyebrow but didn't comment at the flame-heads obvious prevarication. He had more than enough on his plate right now he wasn't going to go looking for more. "Crystal, that was your ex-girlfriend right, Torch?" Johnny nodded, and Harry went on. "And given how anxious you all are, I assume your own attempts to find her haven't yielded any results?"
Gorgon nodded. Harry got the impression he was definitely the speaker for the group, though that didn't seem normal, almost like someone else was missing who normally took up that position. "Indeed, something is blocking Lockjaw from finding her, and so we came to ask our allies the Fantastic Four for help."
Harry nodded and looked over at Reed who shook his head. "If I had thought about it at the time I might have made a note of her bio-signature, but without some kind of trail or something there's nothing science can do. Not unless she uses her powers on a large scale in a country that has good satellite coverage. We were hoping that you could help."
Harry switched his gaze to Agatha while Jean began to play with the baby and Scott proved himself to be a dog person moving over to rub Lockjaw 's head expertly. Agatha shook her head. "Wherever Crystal is, my magic cannot reach her Mister Potter. Whether I am being blocked or it is a power issue I cannot say."
The British wizard sat down absently playing with Franklin and smiling at Susan who was watching him with an amused look on her face. She always found it funny how Franklin sort of had Harry wrapped around his little finger.
Susan leaned over to Phoenix and said in a low voice "You can just tell that he's the kind of father who would spoil his kids rotten, can't you?" Jean chuckled agreement, after all this was the second time she had seen evidence of that, but didn't look away from the strangely touching sight of Harry playing with the toddler.
While his hands were busy playing with Franklin, his mind was busy on the problem. Agatha's a powerful sorceress in her own magic and in the wizard kind too. Even if she didn't start out with a core I'd say hers is as large as McGonagall's was, and she was the most powerful witch in Britain. If she can't find this Crystal girl that means she is either in an alternate dimension, hidden behind powerful shields, or covered by something else, some kind of notice-me-not field powerful enough to confuse Agatha's scrying. Alternate dimension is unlikely, unless it is a major one I doubt Agatha would be unable to find this girl. Powerful shields is a possibility, but not likely. A more subtle ward is more probable. So…
He looked up at Agatha. "I think we need to mix a bit of logic with some magic here. Would you say she is being hidden, or is your sight being blocked?"
"That is a most subtle difference Mr. Potter. And difficult to determine." Agatha stated with a raised eyebrow.
"You're a most subtle person Madame, try." Harry responded blandly.
Johnny looked on as Agatha briefly closed her eyes in thought. "I think that she is being hidden. I sense nothing blocking me, but perhaps influencing my mind to look away."
"Deliberate and subtle then," Harry muttered but nodded. "Alright, I think I have an idea. Do you think you can share a memory of her with me?" Agatha's stony expression shot that idea down, and he looked over at Johnny. "On to the next idea then."
That idea had Jean take several dozen memories of Crystal from Johnny's mind. Non-magicals couldn't use the spell to remove memories to view them in a pensieve, forcing Jean to go into Johnny's head to retrieve them. Harry could have used Legilimens on him, but his mental offense wasn't nearly precise enough to do that without taking more memories of his friend than he wanted.
Even the telepath had problems with that. Jean took enough to give her an impression of the girl, and to earn Johnny a slap across the face. This in turn earned some dirty looks from Crystal's cousins, who could easily guess what kind of memories could have made another girl slap the blond. However she easily shared it with Harry, who let her into his mind for the second time. The redhead found herself tempted to flirt a bit with him in there, but knew now was not the time for it.
Harry's avatar took the 'book' of memories from her and after a moment it disappeared from there to land face up on a pedestal behind him. He nodded and began to cast a complicated version of the Point-me spell.
It ran into some interference, but as it was only supposed to point him in a direction, it still worked in a general way. "Okay, that gives us one line, now I need to go somewhere else, perform the spell again, and then we'll be able to triangulate her position." Reed pulled out a device and looked in the direction Harry was pointing, and nodded.
Hedwig suddenly appeared over his head, something that caused Lockjaw to look up quickly from where he had been looking at the toddler. The bird and the giant dog seemed to stare at one another, then turned away dismissively at the same time. After a moment of staring into his familiar's eyes, Harry had a location in a city down in Texas. He and Reed disappeared a second later, but were swiftly back.
Reed was fiddling with his device and after a few minutes nodded. "Alright, I have a general idea of the area. Do you think that Lockjaw can take us here?" Reed asked, showing the coordinates of an island well out not the ocean. It might have at one point been part of the Hawaiian chain, but it was far removed from any other island now.
"Excuse me?" Asked Harry, "What do you mean Lockjaw take us there?"
"Lockjaw is a teleporter, able to take large groups of people from one place to another. Unfortunately I doubt he will be able to help us now," replied Gorgon. "If he could not take us to Crystal before, there is no way he could take us there now."
"Huh, well, Hedwig could get us through the wards, if she can teleport or whatever it is she does to someplace nearby. Once she does I should be able to teleport in." Hedwig precked in a way that clearly conveyed smugness, and Lockjaw huffed in a way that sounded almost irritated.
Hedwig left Harry's shoulder, and the group waited for half an hour before she came back. After a few minutes communing with her, Harry nodded. "Alright troops, gather round, I know where we're going now." The group minus Lockjaw, Agatha and Franklin did so, putting their hands on him. A moment later they disappeared with a pop.
OOOOOOO
The group appeared on the shore of a tropical island, no one else in sight, but that didn't stop the group from spreading out and checking their surroundings carefully. The place looked completely without civilization, which made the giant dome of metal and stone about a mile in from where they were stand out even more than it would normally given its size. "Yeah I'm going to go out on a limb here and say yer girls somewhere in that dome Flame-brain," Ben said, shaking his head.
"Odd," Reed concurred before Johnny could fire back. "The spell or whatever that was used to hide this place was very sneaky and subtle, yet that is anything but. We might be dealing with two different people, or something else. Remember walking into the unknown is often the most dangerous thing you can do."
The others nodded agreement and without further discussion the group headed toward the dome. Once they reached it Reed frowned, going to one knee and looking at the ground around the dome. "This looks as if someone changed the composition of the earth as they raised the dome. We know one enemy who could do that…"
Ben scowled. "Diablo, that mad alchemist. How did that ancient asshole get out of his prison this time?"
Susan looked over at the quizzical expressions of the others and explained what they knew of the alchemist and his abilities, as well as how they had beaten him before. Harry stiffened a little, but it was his eyes which had become dark and cold, that startled Susan. "And you say this guy got his abilities by selling his soul to a demon lord?"
Susan nodded hesitantly at seeing Harry's expression. "Yes, he wanted the power of alchemy and immortality. He was strangely proud of the fact he had sold 'such a useless thing' for so much power. But keeping this dome up for so long should be well beyond him."
"That's what I thought you said." Harry cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders a little, and muttered the activation code for his crysis suit. His clothes, which had been a pair of jeans and a plaid long-sleeved shirt, shifted something to the matte black suit he had been wearing when the FF first met him. "Then there's a chance we might be dealing with more than this Diablo fellow. After all, if the idiot was willing to make a deal with demons once he might have done it again, only offering something else."
Jean frowned at that, wondering how many people, demons or whatever could be under that massive dome. "Let me try something before we just break in." The others looked at her and Harry paled but before he could say anything she began to use her telepathic power, sending her mind out through the massive dome. She began to feel what felt like thousands of animal minds but after feeling a little of one's mind, she stayed well away from the others. There were about forty more that felt smarter, stronger somehow, but still little more than beasts.
Near the center of the dome she found what felt like two human minds and one that most decidedly wasn't human. One of them was blank, as if the person was comatose or something. The second human mind was twisted but still human. The other thing, even being near it gave her the feeling of having her soul dipped in shit, it was a sewer of vile evil, a being who loved to kill, rape, and torture, not just because it would take pleasure in the act, but because it felt its power allowed it to, because that was the way of the universe.
As she observed them the demon and the human were talking and it was obvious that the demon didn't think very highly of the human. "I do not care about your desires for the female if she is not to be sacrificed. Keep her as a mindless drone if you wish. Your infatuation with her and attempts to completely dominate her mind has taken away from time best spent on your part of the bargain with my Master. Making this dome and creating the properties inside it to hide our demonic presence was brilliant but that was two local weeks ago! You were to open a portal large enough for our legions to storm through into this realm. Instead you have only opened one large enough for this paltry force, and it closed swiftly thereafter."
"Hmph, don't worry my fine, green scaled friend, we are nearly ready, despite the fact your master seems to have attempted to cheat me! Your master may have enhanced my powers enough to make this dome permanent but that is only one aspect of my alchemical power! I should be able to mentally dominate other people permanently, yet no matter how many pellets I use on the girl, they barely last longer than before!"
"Do not presume to speak so of my Master, human!"
Jean had heard enough and began to return her consciousness to her body, but before she could somehow the monstrous demonic mind became aware of her. Ah, what do we have here, a curious little bird? Come closer little bird, let me ravish you, taste, you devour you!
Jean's body spasmed and she would have fallen to the ground if Harry hadn't caught her. He shouted her name, but she didn't hear it, concentrating inward as the alien thing reached out with his own mind to try and draw her in, her belsham-tree defense sickening and dying, the idea of them washed away in the miasma of darkness. But she snarled, and fought back, the power of the phoenix flame blazing up, and she wielded it, cutting away at the darkness, sending the thing's mental presence back screaming in agony at having touched the flame of life and rebirth.
Jean shook her head her eyes now alight with flame, her hair crackling and shivering with her power. She looked up into Harry's concerned emerald eyes, barely an inch from her own and shook her head quickly, but her power and her anger didn't waver. "I'm fine there really are demons in there, I only half believed in them when you mentioned them in your stories Harry. About a thousand or so… imps I guess? Weak little things, but then there's two hundred more that are far stronger, and one that's stronger and smarter by far than even that. I was listening in on their conversation, they plan to open some kind of portal to the demon realm for an invasion, but the one you called Diablo is unhappy his powers should all have been enhanced but it appears only some have been. He was complaining about not being able to dominate Crystal's mind when the strongest demon mind somehow noticed me. It tried to follow my mental probe back to my mind to attack me. I drove it off but they know we're coming now, sorry."
She stood up gratefully squeezing one of Harry's hands for a moment then turned to stare at the dome. "When we do get in there, that one is mine!"
Harry nodded and looked at Reed who in turn for some reason looked at Karnak. The tattooed man nodded stiffly, then stepped forward and seemed to examine the dome for a moment. As he was doing so Reed turned to the others. "Susan turn invisible, as soon as we find where Crystal is, get her out of danger. Karnak, Torch, myself and Harry will go for Diablo, remember his powers, avoid his pellets and anything else he tries to throw at you. Ben, Cyclops and Gorgon hit the demons." He looked nervously over at the young woman now floating slightly off the ground, her body encased with flame forming into a giant bird of prey. "And, um, Phoenix will handle the greater demon or whatever it is."
Harry turned away from Jean grimly, his own eyes beginning to crackle with green lightning, the air around his hands beginning to crackle with magical potential, and the others all readied themselves in their own ways. Harry was wondering what the two strangers could add to their group, but figured that Reed wouldn't have let them come along if they couldn't handle themselves.
As if to answer this query Karnak's hand shot out, almost too quick for even Harry to follow, slamming with incredible force on one patch of stone in the dome. The stone shattered under the blow, and impossibly a massive section of the dome in front of them simply collapsed to the ground.
"GO!" Reed barked, and the entire group charged in, with Torch and Phoenix taking to the sky above them, a wordless almost avian shriek of rage coming from the young woman as she flew ahead.
Inside were over a hundred short stooped purple skinned creatures with overlarge heads and rows of serrated teeth to go with their claws and wings. There were forty taller, dark gray creatures with three eyes, horns and barbed tails standing amongst them. This crowd was arranged in a circle around a raised dais upon which stood a man dressed in purple and green light armor of some kind. Next to him was a young woman with long blond hair cascading down her shoulders and to her lower back wearing a skintight yellow and black suit of some kind that was so formfitting that it left very little to the imagination. Her eyes were blank. However her face looked like it had been crying, and she kneeled at the man's side like a particularly well trained dog.
Next to the two humans crouched a tall, thin green demon with incredibly large arms, a pointed slanted face with a snout full of small but incredibly sharp looking teeth and thick hair on his shoulders and head adding about a foot to seven foot frame. At the moment, it was holding its head and screaming, and it looked up at the form of the phoenix charging toward it, with rage, pain and fear on its face. "Kill it, kill the Life Fire!"
The entire horde turned and charged at the invaders, but when Harry strode forward many of them faltered, seeing and feeling his presence, knowing what he was. Before they could do anything he raised his hand and shouted "Latinium Malleus!" A massive hammer made of gold and green lightning slammed down into the center of the horde, snuffing out a hundred imps and slaying twelve of the lesser demons.
"EEEEEEE, the Sword of Light!" wailed some of the demons, turning to flee, but the crowd of their fellows pressed them forward. Harry raised his hands again, and suddenly an army of stone golems rose from the ground and charged into the demon horde, their swords rising and falling.
This seemed to be the signal for the others, who had been shocked into immobility by his first spell, to charge forward. Gorgon stomped hard on the ground with one hoofed foot, sending a shockwave through the ground, creating a fissure that swallowed several dozen imps, while the thing shouted "It's clobberin' time!" aiming toward a crowd of the lesser demons. Cyclops stayed back, but his searing beam of power sliced into the horde at full power, creating an opening for Mr. Fantastic and his group to charge the dais.
N'astirh the greater demon shuddered, preparing to open his own portal home. The avatar of the Flame of Rebirth was bad enough, to fight the Sword of Light was worse. The human had slaughtered a hundred of his kind back in his own dimension, and the demon could tell that he had only become more powerful since. And that didn't even take into consideration the others, all of whom seemed to have their own superpowers. Whatever his master Belasco's plans, this plan was a dead end, and N'astirh wanted to be alive to report that in person. It would cost him in personal power to open the portal and then in status to return and have to report failure, but his existence was more important than those considerations.
Before he could concentrate his admittedly somewhat weak power enough to open a portal, Phoenix slammed into him. With a fearful shriek he fell to the ground behind the dais with the young human female above him, smashing him with her telekinetic flame powers, causing his skin, which had withstood the flames his Master's realm without difficulty, to begin to blacken and melt. For all his strength he could not break her telekinetic grip on him, and he scrabble and clawed at the ground in agony as he tried to concentrate through the pain enough to get off a spell.
Diablo reacted faster, launching several dozen small pellets at the group charging toward him. Mr. Fantastic stretched and bent to dodge them, while Harry raised a Protego shield along with Sue, who was right behind them now invisible. Karnak dodged with all the skill of a master martial artist, but his finger was still struck by one, and his body slowly began to change into wood where he stood. The Human Torch simply flared his aura of flame higher.
Diablo cursed but kept on shooting and throwing out his alchemical creations, this time aiming both at the closing group and the three who had turned their attention to the demon horde, which was much smaller now, and getting smaller. "Protect me my pet, kill them!"
Crystal rose from her crouch like a puppet on strings and suddenly began to throw a spear of fire and earth at them followed swiftly by a massive torrent of air, which nearly knocked Johnny out of the sky. She moved slowly, but her attacks slammed out with more power than the others were used to seeing from the self-controlled young woman.
Harry however merely raised a hand, pointing one finger at her and said "Petrificus Totalis!" The spell froze the girl mid step and she fell to her side, her body in the exact position it had been.
Diablo gaped at this further display of magical power then turned to concentrate on Harry as he raced forward. This proved to be a mistake because it allowed the Human Torch to race back down, crashing into him with his flame power on full. However the man's alchemical ability was such that his suit was impervious to flame. He tried to reach through the flame to touch Johnny in an effort to transform him, but Johnny took to the air again, allowing Mr. Fantastic's fist to slam into Diablo's face.
Seeing that the others had the idiot in green and purple well in hand Harry turned his attention to the demon horde, an almost hungry grin on his face as he did. He reached down and slammed his hands into the ground, intoning "Terra Hasta!" and dozens of spears of Earth shot up from a dozen different directions, impaling lesser demons and imps alike. After that he used one hand to throw out Bombarda spells, further winnowing the horde, while the other hand conjured thousands of tiny pieces of earth, sending them forward with piercing force. That hand then began to use more esoteric, deadly signal spells to kill a demon here and there in inventive and bloody ways, adding to their terror and confusion. He disdained supplemental spells knowing illusions and other things of that sort were of limited utility against demons, brute force worked better against lower level demons like these.
The Thing was in the middle of the largest group of lesser demons, his fist lashing out pulping their faces and chests, their return blows hurting him, but they didn't work together well, getting in one another's way, enabling him to combat their large numbers with ease. The Human Torch was also taking pot shots into the horde. Cyclops's blasts were slicing their way through the horde, like a scythe and the Gorgon's stomps were adding to the carnage.
Imps and demons were tough, but not enough to withstand this sudden assault, nor were they mentally tough enough to regroup from the initial shock of the assault. Soon they broke, racing toward the one entrance in the dome, the hole Karnak had created. Johnny took the opportunity to turn back to fighting Diablo, who was slowly getting the upper hand against Mr. Fantastic alone, Susan having moved to retrieve Crystal's petrified from. Ben too saw this and turned away from the horde to confront the alchemist.
Diablo had somehow copied Harry's golem idea, using his pellets on the ground around him to create his own golems. They weren't nearly as formed as Harry's being more like giant mud piles with arms, but they did the job to stymie Reed, and their muddy form gave them some protection against Ben, but they hardened and collapsed quickly under Johnny's flames. Still Diablo was able to hold his own against him for now.
Gorgon and Cyclops had stayed by the entrance, their powers more useful at range. The two now looked at one another for an instant, seeing the horde breaking and going around their friends fleeing right toward them. Cyclops knelt and began to shoot his optic blasts into the horde, and Gorgon began to stamp his feet, almost dancing sending out dozens of shockwaves that dumped the frantically charging imps onto the ground. Still dozen of imps were able to close and reached out with fangs and claws.
Gorgon proved far stronger than they expected, nowhere near the Things strength, but able to take on the imps easily enough through the use of martial arts and pure strength, and of course his kicks were incredibly powerful.
Cyclops on the other hand was having much more trouble. He was decent in hand to hand in comparison to the other X-men (bar Rogue) but he didn't have enough strength to really survive at this range with the demons. He did his best though, blasting out with his beams as often as he could, lashing out with punches and kicks that sent the imps skittering back before they came on again.
N'astirh had finally formed a spell, sending an ice shard straight at the Phoenix Avatar that had been mauling him. The girl batted it away contemptuously but it gave him enough time to concentrate and form the return portal spell. The portal appeared as a dark hole in the air in front of him.
She still caught him one more time, with a spear of flame that caught him in the shoulder, penetrating his already badly weakened scales, and slicing his entire arm off at the shoulder. "AGHHG!" With a wail of agony and despair he fell through, the portal disappearing with a pop.
Jean snarled, angry that the bastard who had dared try to invade her mind had gotten away. She turned, and saw several dozen imps and two lesser demons running to a few holes rent out of the side of the dome by the blasts of her fellows. With a cry of "RaAAHH!" like the shriek of a hunting falcon she fell upon them from above. None escaped that way.
Cyclops gasped as he felt his side get slashed, slamming a fist into that imp, then reaching swiftly for his boot, pulling out a small knife that Ororo had insisted he carry. The blade was a simple steel blade, but it was sharp, and it punched right into one imps brain via his eyeball. Another got onto his back but Gogorn smashed it off with a roundhouse blow.
Another imp got in close and made him pay for his moment of inattention however, biting into Gorgon's leg. A kick sent him flying but he still winced as he once more brought his foot down to send out a shockwave through the ground. Despite this the imps and behind them the few remaining lesser demons closed in.
Cyclops had no time to spare for his allies plight, the imps too close and coming from all around he couldn't hit them all with his eye beams. Another one bit into his arm, but he again made use of his knife, stabbing it through its brain box. Another one slashed his face, slicing his visor away. A lesser demon's mauled fist caught him on the side of his head, bringing him to his knees, but with a roar Cyclops blasted out a full power optic beam, disintegrating the demons upper body. The beam continued to cut into the horde behind the lesser demon, and suddenly there were no more demons crowding in.
Harry strode over the body of the last demon, one hand now wielding the sword of Gryffindor, the other still alight with power, but diminishing as Scott looked at him. The sword and magical aura disappeared at the same time, and Harry caught Scott by the shoulders as the battered young man fell forward. The last thing he heard before he passed out was, "I think you held this bridge Horatius!"
Harry gently set Scott against the side of the dome by the entrance, using a few castings of Episkey to heal the numerous cuts and bruises the young man had sustained. He then did the same for Gorgon, who was leaning against the dome's wall. He was much less battered than Scott, and nodded his thanks at the wizard.
The Human Torch touched down next to them. "You're a handy guy to have around Harry."
"You're not the first person to mention that. Though you'll forgive me if I say it sounds much better coming from the fairer sex." Harry said with a smile, looking around. Jean dropped out of the sky, her eyes still alight with battle-lust, but calming down quickly.
Elsewhere Susan had rejoined her husband and Ben, and now stood using her power to create a shield around Diablo like a giant egg. He had initially tried to change his form to get away, changing to a liquid to seep through the ground, but Susan had been able to scoop up most of the liquid into her shield egg, forcing him to reform or lose some body parts.
Reed took a moment to survey the group. Like himself, the other three members of the FF were looking a little tired, Ben least of all by a considerable margin. Gorgon was looking weary, leaning against the wall. Cyclops, who had been instrumental in cutting down the number of demons and holding the main exit against them, was down, his injuries seen to but still exhausted.
Jean and Harry on the other hand looked fresh, as if they could have kept this up for hours without feeling the strain.
Even after about a half hour, Karnak was still stuck as an immobile tree, which told Reed Diablo's powers had indeed increased, if his alchemic solutions were able to keep someone transformed this long. Reed nodded his head over to the man-tree, cocking one eye at Harry. "Do you think you can do something about that?"
Harry looked over and cast a cancellation spell, then frowned as nothing happened. "Well it appears as if I'll have to deal with the source." He strode over to the shield egg, looking at the man inside it. "Can you create a hole large enough for my hand in your shield Ms. Richards?"
"Yes and please call me my code name while we're in uniform." Susan began to concentrate, the shield shifting slowly in response.
"I'll use them when you make them less ridiculous. 'Invisible Woman', 'Mr. Fantastic', honestly." Harry replied with a cheeky grin.
He reached in a hand and Diablo pounced, trying to turn into water and get out of the hole in the shield. Yet even as water he could still be touched, and he jerked back as his form shifted back to human. "Wh-what the!? What are you doing!?"
"Draining you of your bartered magic," Harry said grimly. The ancient alchemist tried to get away, but there was no room inside the shield for him to move. Harry latched onto his leg, and his mutant power activated again, draining the man of the power he had bartered away his very soul for. The man tried to fight the process somehow, but had no ability to do so, not having full control over the power that had been given him, only able to use it in very specific ways.
Almost immediately the man began to age, and Reed reached forward, intending to stop Harry, but the younger man shot him a look, then nodded over to the throne. Reed, angry at what might be called murder, turned to see what harry was concerned about, and saw the bodies of several normal people of all ages taking shape from what had been the alchemists throne. Karnak too was changing back, but in his case he was still very much alive, and strangely unshaken from the experience.
He swiftly moved to look at the transformed people, and quickly backed away, his face pale. The people had their hearts ripped out. He stood, closing his eyes, weighing the pros and cons of this act, the right and wrong, and finally turned away, not willing to watch, but not willing to interfere either.
"Mercy, please, mercy let me live!"
"Did your victims scream the same thing?" Harry growled, "When they did, what was your response?" Diablo could only stare at him unable to comprehend he had run into someone who could end his existence like this. He began to scream, only to be silence by a Muffilatio as Harry grabbed his leg again and began his grim work again.
Susan looked away, but didn't drop her shield. Ben, Jean, Gorgon and Karnak looked on however, grimly satisfied. Minutes later the deed was complete. Where Diablo, a somewhat effete man of middle years had been, was now a husk or skin and bones. Without the magic given to him by the demon he had traded his soul to, the years of his immortal life caught up to him all at once. Living a hundred years was one thing, having over a thousand hit you all at once was quite another. The man had died in great pain, but his screams for mercy were unheard by any.
Reed shook his head sadly. "I take it you've appointed yourself a magical judge, jury and executioner, Harry?"
"I sort of was back in my own dimension so it's a job I'm used to," Harry replied, shaking his head wearily. He would have taken more offense if Reed's tone hadn't been sad and resigned rather than accusatory. "It's not a task I enjoy, but for some people, who have proven they can't be trusted with their power, it is really the only solution that works most times. I knew the moment Phoenix mentioned they were trying to open a permanent portal to the demon realm that I would have to end him. I knew what that entailed. You see something like that can only be accomplished by killing one of his own followers and sacrificing him. It was the same thing Voldemort did, that let him open the portal he did in my first clash with demons."
Reed sighed sadly, not liking the necessity but seeing his point. The man had proven that no jail could hold him after all, and this latest act was so beyond anything he had done before Reed found it impossible to gainsay his wizard friend.
Ben put an arm around Harry's shoulder understanding why he had done what he had, and both the Inhumans nodded gravely at him. Jean merely nodded and the whole group returned to the entrance, picking up Cyclops on the way.
Outside they found Crystal just coming too, looking around her with wide, wondering eyes. Johnny went to one knee in front of her, smiling widely at her. "Hey babe, we got to stop meeting like this you know."
Crystal took one look at him, then around at the others, seeing her friends had family had come to rescue her, and she broke down into tears of gratitude, flinging her hands around the Torch's shoulders as she sobbed.
OOOOOOO
Emma smiled slightly at Paris as the two sat at a table having dinner at the Hellfire Club, talking about a few new business developments in the Asiatic markets. The two women, as the only women in the Inner circle had naturally gravitated to one another after Emma joined. They weren't friends by any means, neither of them were looking for that, and Paris was a little too old to consider Emma her friend. protégé perhaps, and it was a thought that had come to her often in the last few days. Emma was easily one of the most intelligent people Paris had ever met, analytical, controlled and with a wit and drive that Paris, who had much the same qualities, could easily see in her.
For her part Emma had been slightly surprised to find that Paris actually did love Buckman, and rather than being a somewhat amusing dream or something of that nature, Paris had a deep seated desire to be a mother and a regular (albeit rich) housewife. It was somewhat astonishing to think of given how much she had accomplished after she left the modeling circuit, but it was there. The younger blonde had come to the conclusion that she really didn't want to ruin that for the older woman.
It was a quandary, since she had mentally probed Buckman several times over the last few days, and his hatred and fear of mutants was part of the man. He had in fact funneled a large chunk of his own fortune in material and cash into the Sentinel Program. Once more Emma cursed the fact that he was so paranoid to not actually have much information outside the name. For some reason however he was almost certain that it would succeed in 'wiping out the mutant menace'. This was even more disconcerting coming from the likes of Buckman, who was known for his business acumen and ability to judge changing circumstances in the world markets.
If he felt the program was going to be so effective it behooved her to take it seriously. While she had no real loyalty to mutantkind as a whole, there were several people, herself being top of the list, who she didn't want threatened. Luckily for her she had also been able to find out the name of the person of one of the leaders of the project. She hadn't honestly been surprised that Senator Kelly and Buckman were in bed together. Kelly was a senator from Texas, and was a well-spoken but diehard bigot/xenophobe as well as a passionate speaker. He was probably either providing the rest of the money for the project, or was being used by Edward to funnel his money into the project. He was popular in the extreme in Texas and the iron-belt states, and there were rumors he might run for president in a few years.
There was another name Buckman associated with the project, one she had gotten out of his mind right before sitting down to this meal. The name was Bolivar Trask, a name which worried Emma quite a bit more than Kelly. Kelly was the public face, the one who interacted with the rest of the world, but he didn't have the background to be in charge of any weapon or army research or anything of that nature. He was an economist and a politician. Bolivar Trask was a former army major, with a background in electronics and robotics that had come out of the military and immediately been snapped up by Buckman. His involvement and what Edward's company was based on gave her an idea of what the Sentinel Project was.
Perhaps I should figure out some way of pointing Xavier and his group Kelly's way, she mused thoughtfully even as she nodded judiciously at Paris, who was mentioned a few new players in the media business that were making a splash and somewhat cutting into her profits for now. Paris however was unconcerned, feeling they would be flash in the pants companies, the people behind them not having enough money to sustain them for overlong.
Emma's attention was inward on her own thoughts however. Kelly is a visible lead, and I have no doubt that Xavier would follow it up, discretely or otherwise if he sensed anything amiss. Kelly is also a hothead, and may reveal more than he should if given enough provocation, but that's something to think about in the future anyway. I haven't gotten any sense of anticipation or anything to conclude that the project is near completion, and I have far too many troubles near at hand to go looking for more.
She looked up as Paris asked a question about the cosmetics market, and she became fully engaged in their discussion once more. Yes, let the distant future see to itself for now, the present and the near future are what I need to concern myself with now.
OOOOOOO
They had stayed on the island for another forty minutes, burying the bodies of the people Diablo had captured to use as sacrifices, after which Lockjaw had arrived. The giant dog's presence seemed to cheer up Crystal, and she let go of Johnny to grab onto the dog in turn. The teleporter had then transported them all save Harry back to the Baxter building. Harry would have gone except for a sudden peck on the side of the head from Hedwig, who didn't like Lockjaw for some reason. He spent a few minutes after they left getting rid of the bodies of the demons and any and all traces of the dome. He had been tempted to sink the entire island, but Reed had talked him out of that, and after Harry made certain the wall between this dimension and the demonic realm wasn't weakened here. Luckily the wall wasn't, Diablo had chosen this island because it was out of the way and largely unknown by any, not for any special magical nature it had.
Now he sat in a plush chair in a smoking room with a hard cider in one hand as he leaned back. He, Jean and Cyclops had decided to rest a bit before heading back to the institute, and Cyclops was sitting nearby, slowly drinking his first beer sitting next to The Thing. Sometimes despite his cursed eyes life was really damn cool for Scott Summers.
Harry sighed, shaking his head as he looked through the doorway. Jean was with Susan, Agatha and Franklin putting the tyke to bed, but Johnny and Reed were with the four Inhumans as the good doctor checked Crystal for any long term problems caused by her time as Diablo's captive. Harry shook his head, hearing the loud argument coming from the medical lab. "That girl shouldn't be going anywhere just yet. Setting aside any purely physical injury," He skirted using the word 'rape' but even Scott heard it, coming out of his own introspection after his first full scale battle to nod in agreement.
"The girl will have the mental trauma of not having been in control of her own body for far too long, with only brief moments of clarity where she knew she was being controlled. That's, that's really bad, and she needs to around friends at all times, possibly under suicide watch after something like that."
Ben grunted agreement, but the rocky man shrugged too. "I know that Potter, but the Inhumans want to get her home quickest. Besides, they're tougher than ya think, all of 'em, and it ain't like she couldn't get the same treatment with her own people. Besides, they're family; they'll look after her whatever flame-head seems ta think."
Harry frowned, not happy at the speed with which Gorgon and Karnak were insisting they leave. It wasn't just getting their cousin away from Johnny, though he could tell that was one consideration. Gorgon made no bones of the fact he didn't like their relationhip, though why that was Harry couldn't say. Then again if he had a cousin he sure as hell wouldn't want her to date someone like Johnny Storm. Still there seemed to be an urgency to their actions, some other issue that they weren't sharing. "I just feel there's something else going on." He shrugged. "Well whatever, as long as it doesn't come back to bite me on the ass I don't care."
"Yer all heart Potter," Ben said drolly, causing the other two men to chuckle for a minute. Ben changed the subject then, looking over at the young man he was sharing a sofa with. "Ya did good kid. I gotta tell ya, I was a little leery about bringin' you and that Phoenix gal with us on this, but you sure has hell did your bit against those demons." Harry nodded agreement looking over at the other young man. "Ya held the entrance, and if those bastards had gotten out, with their wings and agility, they would've been hard as hell ta track 'em all down
Harry nodded again looking over to the young man. "Yep, you did damn good in your first full scale baptism by fire. Different than all those Danger Room exercises or fighting someone one on one wasn't it?"
Scott nodded thoughtfully, sipping at the beer Harry had insisted he take despite Susan's protests. Old enough to kill, old enough to drink was what Harry had said, and Scott had taken it as a sign somehow that he had passed another test. Now he took a sip of it, (and unknown to him passing another test for not just chugging it down and going back for more) as he tried to from the words. "It was much more visceral, much more draining than I had ever imagined, the Danger Room scenarios were more cerebral, out there I didn't have much time to think, I just had to react"
"That's what trainin' is for kid," Ben chuckled. "Ta teach yer body the muscle memory, so ya don't have ta think before ya act. In a real fight, a second can sometimes be fatal." Even the FF trained after all, most of the time in teamwork admittedly, but still even they knew that little bit of wisdom. "It won't always be like that of course those demons were dumb as shit, and their mobility was limited 'cause of the dome. But sometimes in combat ya have ta just react, trustin' yer gut ta get it right, and ya did that today."
Harry nodded, and then realized he needed to broach a topic as much for Scott's benefit as anything. "You know, I'm moving out of the institute. Oh, I'll still be popping in from time to time, but after tonight I'm going to be living elsewhere."
Scott's eyebrows shot up in surprise behind his visor, not having anticipated that.
"I wanted to test you a few more times before I went to see if I wanted to recommend you start helping Logan in the team exercises." Scott cocked his head and Harry smiled a soft, almost wondering smile. "Storm has decided to leave with me. She'll still be there teaching until the end of the school year, and will remain the Language teacher until Charles finds a replacement, but she won't be an X-man anymore. That leaves a leadership vacuum, which I wanted to know you could handle when you tried to fill it."
Scott blushed under Harry's gaze, knowing that he probably would have done just that, and a few months ago would probably have fucked it up, or worse made the training so staid and predictable that his team wouldn't be able to handle their first real, chaotic battlefield.
Harry went on. "Now you've seen what a full scale battle is like, and you've shown recently you've taken my teachings about leadership to heart. I hope you'll stay in touch, but I think that the X-men will be in good hands when they're out in the field." Cyclops looked down embarrassed and Harry smiled. The young man wasn't ever going to have the strength of personality or vision to take over for Charles as leader of their group, but he would make a decent field commander, and had just proven how well he could fight when the shit really hit the fan.
At that point Jean came through the door, looking over her shoulder with a bemused expression. "That argument doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon. Luckily Agatha just went in to officiate so I don't think anyone is going to be foolish enough to make it physical. That old woman can be very scary when she puts her mind to it." She turned back and grabbed the bottle of hard cider out of Harry's hand and chugging half of it down. Harry chuckled at her antics the redhead grinned. "I think we should get out of here before it gets any louder really."
Harry frowned but nodded. He had thought to offer an elf to Agatha, but instead had simply told her they would talk later, since right now didn't seem the time to broach the subject. He had also thought of offering one the same way to Steven, but had decided his manservant wouldn't like being put out of a job, though he still wanted to talk to the Sorcerer Supreme about Hogwarts and what he had found.
And sicne Reed had finished his work on a cell phone for him within thirty minutes of their return to the building, and his other business with the FF could wait, they could leave whenever they were ready.
He looked over at Scott who nodded and got to his feet. "I'm ready to go sir."
Harry nodded again and called Lissy, the elf who had been working with Ororo and was in New York, making her the only one who could get to them here in California. At the moment he didn't want to try transporting multiple people while he adjusted to the magic he just absorbed. "Master called Lissy? Lissy and the mistress just finished shopping for carpets."
Harry nodded, while Ben made a point to talk to Reed about coming up with some kind of anti-teleportation technology for their home. Too many damn people were just able to pop in and out apparently.
"Yes Lissy, could you pop the three of us back to the mansion please?" He indicated Phoenix and Cyclops as well as himself and Lissy nodded, and Harry turned to Ben. "I'll be in touch Ben. Don't let whatever trouble the Inhumans are having get you down when you charge into it okay, I know Johnny will make you do that." Ben chuckled agreement and then watched as the trio disappeared.
They reappeared the mansion's foyer, and found Ororo standing by several carpet cuttings as well as several boxes of food for the castle. She turned and made her way toward them. Jean took one look at her still slightly limping gate and gasped, looking between her and Harry, immediately surmising the reason behind the limp. The woman's smile widened noticeably and she nodded. Jean leaned in close whispering, "Oh you are so giving me details later girl!"
Ororo giggled quietly, answering back just as lowly, "So you know what to expect when it's your turn my friend?"
Jean gaped at her, and Ororo waved a hand airily. "We will talk about that later. For now, your message you might be off on another adventure with the FF. I do hope that doesn't become a habit."
"I basically told them they're on their own for the next one," Harry chuckled. "Besides they've got a full year and then some experience as heroes, I don't have to be there to hold their hands. It was only because Agatha was so distraught that I helped the last time, and this time they needed my magical expertise. I can trust them to handle anything nonmagical with their own skills.
Ororo chuckled, and the trio followed her into the sitting room, where they found Charles and a few of the others, waiting to hear the new tail.
After that, Ororo and Harry shared the knowledge that they were moving out, and reactions were mixed at best. Evan was sad to see Harry go, but concerned and worried that his aunt was going with him, which was coming from out of the blue to him. Rogue was sad to see them go, but not that much, not being as close to either of them as she was to the other kids. She was sad she hadn't been able to pay Harry back for the ward he designed for her, but that was all. Kurt was sad to see them go, but had learned a lot about pranks from Harry and other stuff as well, and it wasn't like Harry had made a big secret that he wanted to move on eventually. Logan was philosophical about it, knowing that Harry had never really seen the Institute as a long term home, and having seen enough friends move away in his life to know it wasn't that big a deal.
Kitty of course was the most distraught, but she was consoled by the fact they weren't breaking off all ties of course, and that Harry would continue to train her in runes as long as she wanted. He was in fact already building a large fully body mirror that the two could use to see one another, and he could of course apparate in whenever he wanted. This cheered him up and as the others broke up to head to bed (or the infirmary in Cyclops case, since Charles wanted to check him over after his battle with the demons) she and Harry had a in depth discussion about where she wanted to take her studies, and eventually they left to head up to the runic workroom so she could show him what she had come up with.
The others had been surprised by the lack of reaction Jean displayed at the news that Harry and Ororo would be leaving. Charles had a bad feeling about it, but had no way at this point in time to bring it up with the young woman, and turned to wheel his way after Scott. Now as the others had broken away, Ororo looked over at Jean, a smile, secretive smile on her face. "I believe you wanted to hear the details of Harry and my time together? Why don't we go have a bath together, you can certainly use it after your day."
Jean floundered a little, the riposte Ororo had used earlier had thrown her off-balance, making her uncertain and wary. "Um, no, that's okay, I shouldn't have asked, after all, that's private isn't it, you don't…"
"I insist," Ororo said and helped the younger woman to her feet. Minutes later the two were in the teacher's women's bathroom. The two began to undress and Jean found herself almost mesmerized by Ororo's body as she uncovered it, noting the number of bite marks and the few hickies here and there. She almost reached out to touch one of them on the bottom curve of the African woman's breast but she. sopped herself, simply looking on as Ororo gracefully raised one leg over the side of the tub
She blushed as the other woman watched her finish undressing and join her in the water, then sighed as the relief of the hot water began to sooth her and wipe away the sweat and grime from the fight earlier that day. She hadn't gotten injured of course, but she had exerted herself more than she had in a while, and she had the sweat to prove it.
The silence was broken by Ororo's voice. "I was serious you know, when Emma teased me about sharing Harry, I was prepared to do it, though not right away. I wanted to be sure of your feelings first."
Jean looked up, her tranquility gone as she looked at the other woman guiltily. "Ororo, I…"
Ororo gently shook her head, sending her hair swishing through the water. "I wasn't raised in America, my culture is not the same as the 'norm', and I see no problem with one man having multiple wives, so long as they all love each other. I knew he had feelings for you," she admitted without any embarrassment, "And not just him. Not as much as Harry perhaps, but I still have come to love you, and I know he has as well. It's in his eyes when he looks at you, in his smile when he's talking to you. It has made him guilty for so long," she chuckled, "As if it was something to be embarrassed and guilty for! As if I could not see it growing, or would choose to keep our happiness simply between the two of us, excluding you."
"Oro-Ororo, are you really saying you want me, to, to join the two of you, make your relationship into a threesome?" Jean stammered. She just knew she was blushing!
"Yes," said Ororo simply. "With Emma as a possibility of joining later."
Jean ignored that part for now, just concentrating on what her friend had said about wanting her to join Harry and her in their relationship, not just at Hogwarts. "Wh-why would you, I mean I can understand when you say that you weren't raised in a one man/woman culture for the most part, but still, why are you willing to share?"
"Because I don't see it merely as sharing but multiplying. Why would I go on my way with Harry, when I can see how you feel about one another, how I feel about you?" She shot Jean a look, and Jean blushed further but didn't look away, something hot and fiery waking up within her at the frank look of appreciation and desire on the other woman's face. It reminded her of how Emma had looked at her a few times, and it awoke the same emotions as those looks had, as dancing with Harry had, as being around him sometimes did. "I think we can be happier with all three of us together than just Harry and I."
"I, I don't know if I can, I mean, I don't have any problem being with, with a girl, but sharing having two lovers at once? I won't say that the idea, that it doesn't appeal to me." Said Jean slowly. "But it goes against all the morals I was brought up to believe were right and true, the only way to live." In point of fact the idea of being with a girl at all was against those morals, but she didn't care. I, I'll have to think about it, that's all I can say."
Ororo nodded serenely, as if the outcome was a foregone conclusion. "Of course my dear, I don't want to push you into anything you're not ready for."
Jean nodded, then grinned suddenly, reaching out to poke at one of the bite marks on the other woman's stomach, which caused the other woman to twitch away with a yelp. "Now, I believe you have some details to brag about!"