Home Plot: Day 2

[verynaughtymutant]

The Askani were a warrior people, their armed rebellion was in many ways the thing that defined them, that marked the clan from outsiders. And so when an Askani camp was attacked, all of its members joined in the defense because all of it's members knew how to fight.

In this case, nobody was quite sure who the attackers were, whether it was the Chaos Bringer or forces from the Cannanite government but they were warriors, they knew how to fight no matter the enemy.

There had been a bombardment, first, bombs and shells falling onto the camouflaged camp and then attack from several directions, by flying vehicles and soldiers suited up in combat exoskeletons. And nearly every man and woman in the Askani camp was trying to repel them.

The anti missile auto-systems were in full flow, shooting down the shells and everywhere there was hand to hand battle and gun fire. Here a robot man was dispatched with a psimeter, there a giant mutate who looked practically reptilian was shocked by an electrical bolt tearing through her skin. To the north a towering black man was commanding an artillery barrage that was driving off the attackers, while to the south two askani priestesses, Aliya and Hope, were leading another force in hand to hand.

But of the two leaders of the fight, Cable and Stryfe, the Askanisson and the Chaos Bringer, there was no sign at all.

Comments

[starchilde_lost]

When all was said and done, Rachel did what she always did. Went where she was needed and didn't bother to be subtle about it. When one of the anti-missile systems went down, she was there, bouncing shells back where they came from, forcing others down where they wouldn't hurt anyone. When a group of wounded came under fire, she shielded them until they were able to retreat. She used her telepathy to find and stop enemies from sneaking in behind holes in the line.

Nathan said that they were shadows, illusions, but Rachel disagreed. This might not be the world they were familiar with, the one that he came from. It might be just a pocket dimension, but these were real people with real thoughts. She felt responsible for them in a way, these were people that lived in a world that she helped shape and she wouldn't leave them to fight alone. So she fought, and made sure she was seen fighting.

After all, the bigger and brighter she was, she better she could draw off the bigger guns. Maybe even the biggest one at all - the man (or mutant) behind the curtain. Checking in with Nathan, Rachel headed off to the next problem, still keeping an "ear" open for the next.

[verynaughtymutant]

Stryfe's plan had never involved taking the camp, he didn't care who won the war, didn't care anything for the desperate men he'd roped into following him. He cared only for revenge.

He'd drawn off some of the askani's best fighters on a wild goose change weeks ago and this attack was useful mostly in that it gave him a chance to gage the strength of what was left. The resistance was fiercer then he had expected but they were all tied up fighting his attack, which left him ready to sweep in when he was ready, so he could pick off one of for his true targets: His 'brother' or his son or sweet spirited Aliya. Only he felt something else, somebody else, drawing his attention.

Power. Raw power. In the form of a woman. He flew up high and dropped down towards her, armor shining and blade ready to strike.

[starchilde_lost]

Rachel sensed him before he dropped, torn by the equally powerful feelings of 'gotcha' and 'oh shit.' He was powerful, that was a given, after all, he wasn't burning ninety percent of his energy just to stay alive. The question was: was he more powerful than her? Theoretically they were evenly matched, same powers from the same source. There was just one problem.

Dude was huge. Even if they were matched power-wise, Rachel had forgotten how physically imposing her brother could be and with the armor... making a snap decision she tightened her shields, mental and physical, parried the blow with her psimitar, and darted for the forest below. It was out of the way and she could keep collateral damage down.

Once she landed, she turned to face him. "So. You're what that cute little baby grew up into. Knew I was making a mistake somewhere."

[verynaughtymutant]

The strong survive. That was the one message Stryfe had drilled into him all his childhood. And he was very strong indeed.

When he struck she parried, when she ran he followed.

"I am what I was made," he replied, once he'd caught her, and while most of his face was hidden behind his helmet, his mouth was curled into a smirk. "And you? Who do you claim to be, little girl?"

As he spoke, he reached out with his powers to find out, trying to invade her brain and bind her body simultaneously.

[starchilde_lost]

"Who am I?" It wasn't going to happen, at least not yet. Rachel's mind was locked tight and while he was trying to bind her, she was pulling a nearby tree out from it's roots to smack him with.

She met his sneer with one of her own. This fight was going to be nasty one and part of her was glad for it. Killing Stryfe wouldn't help anyone back home, but it sure as hell would make her feel better about a few things. Namely, "Once upon a time, I'm the woman that gave the order for your birth, Stryfe. But we're all family here." She threw the tree. "Call me Rachel."

[spirited_hero]

Rachel! Zell had seen her fly down into the forest fighting with someone. Even though Rachel was powerful here, fighting alone was always dangerous. She needed backup!

Zell dashed forward and went as fast as he could, minding not to trip up on roots or rocks. He had no idea who her foe could be.

[verynaughtymutant]

Stryfe released his attempt to bind her body to catch the tree with his teke instead, sending it hurtling back towards her, as he advanced, sword drawn.

"I know all my family, everyone who is responsible for the misery of my life," he told her grandly, puncturing each word with a step forward, a thrust of his hand and a telekinetic blow. "The parents of my failed future, the monster who twisted my youth, the witches who created that feeble copy of myself in the camp below."

"Do you desire death so much to wish to place yourself on that list?"

[starchilde_lost]

"One?" She batted the tree away with her teke and held her psimitar in a ready stance, giving surprisingly little ground as she held him off. "You know jack-all about your family, bub. Two?" Her shield flared to brilliance as he tried to land teke blows that didn't quite make it. I'll give you Apocalypse is a bastard, we've got that in common, but three?" She used her teke to try and unseat him, digging a furrow int he ground beneath his feet. "Are you really sure he's the copy?"

[spirited_hero]

As Zell closed the distance, he could see finally who it was. Stryfe! That bastard had...

Anger burned in him, but Zell knew he shouldn't charge forward. Charging forward had cost him a lot before. As much as it burned him, Zell decided to wait. He maneuvered behind the trees and tried to get to a spot behind Stryfe so Rachel could see he was there. He was ready in case the guy could somehow sense he was there.

[verynaughtymutant]

All of Stryfe's focus was on the woman in front of him so he was completely unaware of anything else happening.

When a furrow appeared at his feet, he rose himself into the air above it and turned that dodge into a flying teke-powered leap that brought him upon her, his sword smashing at her barrier as he probed at her mental defenses at the same time as her physical ones, searching for a way in.

"Do you think such obvious lies will unsettle me, little Askani? I am your doom."

[starchilde_lost]

"Lies?" Rachel paused imperceptibly when she noticed Zell. One the one hand, she knew he was good in a fight and if she knew he had some serious magical mojo that could be brought into play. On the other was the fact that his mind had zero shielding and that meant she was going to have to split focus if Stryfe noticed him.

She took the leap as well as she could, giving ground and moving backwards. She didn't want to change position, didn't want Stryfe to notice Zell in any shape, way or form and that meant she had to keep him focused on her. So, she decided to take a chance. If Stryfe thought she was lying, she'd let him see the truth.

Putting all her memories an knowledge of Stryfe in the front of her mind, she opened the smallest path right towards it. If he wanted into her head, he was going to have to get through all that first. In the meantime, she tried to think of a way to use Zell to take the bastard out.

[spirited_hero]

Man! The guy's back was to him, and Zell wanted to run up and smash Stryfe hard! But there was the mind stuff. Things Zell didn't understand. Instead of giving in to his urges to run in fists blazing, he kept himself back. He figured the best way to help would be to lie low and only do something if Rachel needed him. If Rachel won, then cool. If Stryfe started getting the upper hand, Zell would try frying the bastard with a nice big fire spell.

Hiding was so hard!!

[verynaughtymutant]

He eagerly took the mental territory she let him, of course. And then his mind screamed out with rage and shock at what he found.

"No!" he shouted and all the rocks and trees in the area started lifting up and swirling around him as he unleashed his teke wildly like a storm and suddenly his mind was wide open and everybody close to him felt a raw powerful mental barrage of hate and anger directed wildly outwards. It was never pretty when someone with his power lost control and went into a rage. Though it did mean he wasn't putting any energy into his defenses.

[starchilde_lost]

It was never a good idea to let your mind get entangled with absolute madness and rage and the instant Stryfe screamed, Rachel remembered exactly way. Clutching her head at the barrage of images and feelings that assailed her, she tried to reach out and protect any and all of the minds that might be in his range. The problem was, she wasn't entirely sure what that range was and she was still fighting to keep her own mind in one piece.

She was good, damn good, but multitasking like this was going to take its toll and quick.

Almost in vain, she tried to marshal her strength to push Stryfe back, peel back his armor, and expose his vulnerabilities. And she hoped like hell Zell took the hint.

[spirited_hero]

Zell felt all of the images of hate and anger coming off Stryfe. It made Zell loathe him. The trees and stuff around him began to move, and Zell could feel the damaging physical force around him.

He moved to strike. The images Stryfe was sending him were too much to keep himself in check. Despite the overpowering feelings and thoughts being blasted towards him and the uge to cower there as it washed over him, Zell attempted to hit back. Charging towards Stryfe, Zell reared back a fist filled with junctioned magic and went for a strike.

[verynaughtymutant]

Beneath the rage, beneath the hate and the shock, Stryfe was still a little aware, of what was happening. He could feel his armor being peeled back and he felt a blow that drove him to the ground and responded in kind, pushing outwards and sending rocks and trees and everything nearby not tethered down in that direction, and for a moment the hate and rage slowed down as he got his mind back into some kind of order.

[starchilde_lost]

Rachel gave Zell as much protection as she could, deflecting individual rocks away from him so that she didn't impede his progress with a full-on shield. She'd been sparring with him enough to have a fair idea what he could and couldn't dodge on his own, but mostly she focused on keeping his mind clear, making sure Stryfe didn't take any opportunities to mess with him.

As for the man himself, she pushed the memories at him, needling at him, trying to keep his focus on her. "All your little goals and dreams will die, Stryfe. Just like you. Like the failed copy you are. And at the end, we're the ones left standing, we're the ones that put an end to you. The Askani. The X-Men. We endure and you're nothing but a footnote in a history book."

[spirited_hero]

The wave hit Zell, and he flew back. Not only was he protected by Rachel's shielding, he had his Guardian Forces linked up. It wasn't so bad of a hit. Zell got up, but staggered a moment by all the rage. The depths of Stryfe's hate were appalling! But then he shook his head and launched himself at Stryfe once again.

This wasn't any sparring match, and Zell didn't intend to stop until Stryfe stopped moving. He felt a force pushing him away, but Zell's enhanced strength kept him moving. Then it was time to unload on this stinking bastard. Zell did his utmost best to bring the pain.

[verynaughtymutant]

Stryfe could feel everything slipping away from him, feel that damned woman's words needle at him like daggers as she slipped memories (terrible, awful memories) into his mind and punches like boulders shattering his armor from behind and sending his sword spinning to the floor. Even his advanced physical strength wasn't enough to take the edge off the force of that beatdown.

"No!" he yelled again and he used all his remaining strength to grab his attacker in a full body lock, his Teke holding him in his place until he could seize him with his own powerful hands. "Not like this!"

And he put all his telepathic powers into the task of ripping through Zells's mind, breaking the shields, seizing control of it as brutally and quickly as he could and then sending him after Rachel. He wasn't beaten yet, whatever those memories said.

[starchilde_lost]

"ZELL!" Rachel called out as she saw Stryfe move to attack and she tried to put her mind in-between the two before it was too late. As she did that, she managed to get back to her feet, holding her psimitar and aiming it at Stryfe's back. It was nice to have something that could focus her power and she sent a powerful jolt through the staff.

[spirited_hero]

It felt good to pummel the sadistic jerk. Served him right. All of that hate could only come from someone really depraved. Then, Stryfe managed to trap Zell up in the air using the force of his mind.

"Nnnn-rrr!"

Zell wasn't about to make this easy, and he struggled hard. But, then he started getting hit with that horrible mental force. That's when Zell started to yell out, just about screaming. He wasn't equipped to fight against something like this. Only when he was suddenly released did he realize that Rachel had been helping him.

Zell fell to one knee. He'd been battered by Stryfe's teke force before, but the mental onslaught had hit him hard. He felt faint, and could barely go on. Could he end up nothing but Stryfe's helpless victim once again? Zell's resolve didn't die. It was at points like these, at the brink of defeat, when SeeDs could really tap into their inner power.

"RrrrrrrAAAAAAHHHH!"

Zell's fists clenched, and he was consumed by his own aura of power. He dashed forward and delivered two sets of left-right punches to Stryfe's head. Zell pivoted and sent a powered kick straight into Stryfe's midsection, with Zell's leg leaving an arc of power in its wake. Zell lifted Stryfe's huge frame over his head. He looked up, and, with a single jump, shot up like a rocket instantly into the sky, then came back just as quickly, slamming Stryfe's body into the ground. Stepping back, Zell prepared for the final blow. He leapt and paused in midair for a moment as a ball of power grew between his hands. He then sailed across and jammed the brilliant point of light roughly onto Stryfe's back. Zell landed and concentrated as the energy grew then exploded.

Zell's limit break was finally over. He dropped back down to one knee, in pain once more.

[OOC: Canon reference: Duel = Punch Rush + Mach Kick + Meteor Strike + Meteor Barret]

[verynaughtymutant]

Stryfe had just about had the boy's mind, had busted through the last shield when suddenly he felt a second mental energy reinforcing them and at the same time was blasted by the full power of a psimeter.

He let go for only a moment, but it was enough: once free the boy battered him and for a moment Stryfe thought he was dead, but finally the attack stopped and Stryfe emerged: injured, bruised and with his armor largely broken and falling off but still alive and ready to finish this.

He haltingly reached out with his teke and grabbed the sword that had been knocked out of his hand.

[starchilde_lost]

Rachel didn't intend to let him hold the sword long. Running forward, she used the weapon in her hand like a staff, attacking mercilessly. He had killed, would kill, so many people, cause so much harm and it was all her fault. Not that she would change it, she couldn't. But it did nothing to diminish the sudden flash of rage she felt.

Illiyana. Moira. Nathan's family. Dead. Lives lost so she could save her brother and all the people he'd save someday.

She only used power enough to counter his, lashing out physically instead of telekinetically, instead of telepathically. She wanted to beat him. Here. Now. In this bubble-world where it wouldn't matter back home. But she had to know, she needed to make sure, especially after that display.

"Zell! Talk to me. Are you okay!?"

[spirited_hero]

"Yo, I've had worse," Zell managed to groan out. It was true.

Though battered, now that Rachel was fighting Stryfe and Zell's mind was free, Zell could focus on a casting a spell.

"Curaga!"

Bright white lights whirled around him, and his form became obscured by a brilliant blue. The magic faded, and Zell was good as new.

"That's better!"

[verynaughtymutant]

Stryfe was many things but he wasn't a coward and he certainly wasn't unused to pain. He struggled with every blow, reaching blindly out for a weapon with all the strength he had. His sword, a rock, whatever he could bring to his hand would do.

[starchilde_lost]

She didn't want him to have the luxury of a weapon, not ever again and she tried to knock his hand away every chance she got. He wasn't going to walk away. Not after his crimes, not after the people he'd killed.

She struck viciously, looking for weaknesses, looking to break him. One opening. That was all she needed. One good, solid opening and it would all be over.

[verynaughtymutant]

And she soon had it. It only took a few more blows before he stopped struggling, the blood from his wounds dripping down his side and across his exposed neck. And shorn of his armor, and with his helmet removed, he looked exactly like her brother would have done without his metal parts as he lay there waiting for the killing blow.

This was, he thought, all life was, pain and misery and everyone doing their best to dish it upon somebody else. In the end his only real regret was that he had caused too little and received too much.

"Perhaps," he whispered with the last strength he had, "you were family after all, Rachel."

She acted like family, at least.

[starchilde_lost]

She should have paused. Maybe she did when she saw the familiar face. But there was no familiarity in the gaze, there was no friendliness, no love, none of the things she saw when she looked in her brother's eyes. Sneering, her voice was almost a growl, "Blood isn't everything, Stryfe." With all her strength, she thrust the spear into the space between his ribs. "Family isn't blood. This is for mine."

[spirited_hero]

Zell walked over and stood next to Rachel and watched Stryfe die. She'd just killed him. Though Zell was often kind-hearted, and most of the time he simply left his enemies unconscious, Zell didn't have any qualms about what Rachel did. Zell was also a trained mercenary and knew sometimes things had to be done. Stryfe couldn't be allowed to keep on spreading the hate he'd felt.

Zell wasn't about to interject himself into a family matter now that the fighting was over. He waited there standing next to Rachel.

[starchilde_lost]

It feels hollow. Empty. The only thing she feels is a feeling of... finality. Like crossing the line at the end of a long race. The anger was still there, the guilt, after all, this wasn't a "real" world, just an echo. An alternate timeline. But maybe, just maybe this timeline would be a little safer now.

"Nathan probably felt this. We need to find him and finish this battle. This has to end."

[spirited_hero]

Zell turned to face Rachel and nodded his agreement.

"I'm with you, Rachel. Let's go."

Zell hoped she'd be okay later after she'd had time to think back and process what just happened here. He made a note to mention to her, but later, that he thought she'd done the right thing.

[spirited_hero]

Normally, Zell would gather some fighters and charge deep into the fray. Not this time. Having refused any mindlinks, Zell still wasn't able to communicate with any of the Askani. Also, Zell did not want to attract another mindlink. Not after what had happened last time.

But none of that stopped Zell from doing a spectacular job of defending the encampment. With his junctions up, Zell's attacks were incredibly strong, even without considering the fire magic laced into every punch and kick. Aggressors went flying from him, and most did not get up. Those that did were quickly finished off.

[butterflyfactor]

Layla was not big on babysitting, in general. Kids had never been her thing. Possibly it was a holdover from the orphanage, but she generally didn't care for children. It was like she'd ever gotten to be one, herself.

Yet somehow, she found herself carrying a child. Cable's child, as it happened, keeping him wrapped up in both arms and resting against her shoulder. There was a lot of confusion and explosions, and the girl who'd been watching the little bundle had been knocked unconscious- Layla hoped.

She would rather pass him off to his father or mother but both were MIA and anyway, she was trying to keep out of the way of the people with actual powers fighting.

Even if none of it was real, the soft, warm weight against her chest that kept making little hiccuping noises felt real enough.

"There, there, little Cable baby," she mumbled, ducking under the flap of a tent and head for the thicker cover of the woods.

[verynaughtymutant]

Tyler gurgled a little as he felt someone new pick him up and having a woman hold him meant only one thing was in his mind and he reached for her, clothed, bosom with his mouth and tried to suckle at it.

A shell landed about fifty yards to their left and exploded, but it didn't seem to effect him at all. Fighting and explosions going on all around him was nothing he wasn't used to.

[butterflyfactor]

It was bad enough that things were exploding. She ducked her body away from it, head down, frowning a little, and then started.

"Woah. No! No no, baby, that is... not what those are for. In this instance. That- please feel free not to do that," she muttered, hiking Tyler further up her shoulder and patting his back.

[verynaughtymutant]

Tyler reacted to that rejection by starting to cry loudly, which wasn't really what you wanted when hiding from armed men trying to kill you.

[awomanscornd]

Madelyne isn't a fighter. She tries to make herself useful in other ways, but in a melee like this, soldiers and warriors and mutants on all sides, she's hopelessly out of her element. But things move fast in a siege, apparently, and she winds up with neither the time, opportunity, or even really the inclination to run off and find somewhere to cower for the duration. Instead, she somehow ends up in the thick of it before she's even entirely sure what's going on.

"Okay, can I at least get a gun or something?"

She's not a fighter. But she is a survivor.

[verynaughtymutant]

There were two women fighting side to side against a battalion of attackers near where Madelyne was. One was black with short hair, the other was pale with red shoulder length hair and black tribal makeup marking her cheeks and she stabbed her immediate opponent with a bolt of energy from her psimitar and telekenetically grabbed his gun and launched it towards Madeleyne.

"Just try not to shoot our side."

[blonderussianspy]

It was goddamn madness, though Natalya had been in worse. The attack, while certainly unwelcome, wasn't the truly problematic part. The problem was, where the hell was Cable?

She'd armed herself and fallen into step. Even if she couldn't speak the language, she could sure as hell point and shoot. It let her cut a swath to Cable's tent, anyway.

Natalya shoved roughly into it and stalked over to his seated form, looking harried and frankly pissed.

"What the hell are you doing?"

[verynaughtymutant]

Cable was using his teke to hang upside down in a upside-down lotus position with his eyes closed.

"Meditating," he replied without opening his mouth, projecting the, english, words into her mind instead. "Any other questions?"

[blonderussianspy]

Her thoughts roiled, almost all in Russian, and though he was huge and she knew she was dangerous, in the moment she could have given a damn. She swung her gun onto her shoulder, grabbed his shirt with both hands and pulled.

"One," she snarled.

"What the hell are you thinking?!"

[verynaughtymutant]

He opened his eyes at that, as well as his mouth as she grabbed a hold of him.

"I am thinking," he replied grimly, in english, as he lashed out at her with his teke, breaking her grip and forcing her back across the tent, "that I have already fought this war once, for real, and I have no particular desire to do so again for our captors entertainment."

"This is not real. It is a game and one I don't want to play."

And with that he flipped himself around so he was right said up again and lowered his legs to the floor.

[blonderussianspy]

"Who says it isn't real?" she demanded, keeping her balance though the use of telekenesis was jarring, almost frightening in its unfamiliarity. It didn't show.

"If not for us, for them? Even if this world ceases to exist the moment we wake up, or go, or find a way out, who says the fear they are feeling, the panic and desperation, that isn't real? It looks real, Cable! It feels real, to me! People are dying, your people! How can you sit here?" She couldn't remember the last time she'd reacted so passionately to anything. She wasn't sure what that meant.

"What if this is the last time you ever see them? What if this is the last moment you ever get to help them? Real or not, how can you not take it?!"

[verynaughtymutant]

"The last time I could have helped them was years ago," he replied, though his blank expression had shifted into a slightly concerned frown and he switched to russian. "My people are dead, my culture eradicated. That will not change, no matter what happens to these ghosts."

"What does it matter when they die?"

He knew why it mattered, he did, deep in his soul he knew. But he feared that if he allowed himself to get involved, if he allowed to himself care again, he'd drown in his grief and guilt again. It was only by diligently repressing the past and focusing on the future that he kept himself useful. And only by still being useful did he have any right to still live.