Chapter 1 - Trust

Attention:  Generation X and their villians,as well as any other mutant mentioned in this story, is property of MarvelComics.  The character Richard Cale is named after family relations. Any other reference to anything copywrighted is a chance happening.
====================================================
Relatively Dangerous
Trust
              It had been a quiet day at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. At leastthat was how it had started. Rich still wished that some of the othershad stayed behind. He couldn't remember who had stayed behind with himand Yvette, but now they were in no shape to move. Yvette and he had beenrunning from an unknown attacker, one that was after him. It wasn't Emplate,so he was thanking God for that small favor. Yvette and he had turned acorner, and even though there was an open hallway to run down, they raninto an invisible wall. As they recovered from the collision, Rich feltthe wall close around them. Both he and Yvette were having trouble breathing,as a female voice said to him, "Your life is over."
             Richard Cale awoke and sat straight up in his bed. He was gasping for breath.He hated nightmares, especially like this. He knew he wouldn't get backto sleep anytime soon. He glanced at the clock in his room. 3 AM. Thiswas a bad one, and a bad sign. The last time he had these nightmares, Emplatehad attacked the school. Rich decided that it would be best to get dressedand walk around. Once he was dressed, he grabbed his flute and left theguy's dorm.
*******************************************

             Elane looked back at the letter she had received weeks ago. She knew shehad a powerful mutant ability, and the first plan she had to use it washalted by one person. Until now, she never knew how he knew, and now agentleman who had met him had offered her a chance at revenge.  Shewalked through Logan airport and watched for the person that would meether. It was hard to think how she could easily find a man about 3 to 4feet tall in the sea of people. It wasn't until she heard someone say,"Ms. Elane," that she turned and saw the person she was looking for.
             "Are you the one who sent me the letter?" she asked him, noticing thaton his chauffeur's hat, there was a card with the letters DOA on it.
             Without the grin ever leaving his face, the man said, "No. That was themaster. He is most eager to meet you. He feels that he can offer you theone thing you desire most." He was right, and Elane smiled. As if readingher mind, he then said, "The master is waiting at his house, and I willtake you there."
             Immediately, the man had taken her to a black limo, slightly beat-up, andstarted it on its way. As he drove, Elane saw a gate and sign that read,"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."  She turned to the man andsaid, "Is that..."
             "Yes, that is where he is. The master has a plan for you that will getyou in and out in no time." Elane was never one who enjoyed many people,but then the larger a group, the harder to control things with her powers.Eventually the car pulled to a stop at a lighthouse. He took her insideand led her up the steps. Halfway up, Elane noticed an empty cell, withmany cuts in the walls. The man who had wanted to meet her was evil, andshe loved it. At the top of the stairs, the man disappeared through a doorand talked with someone. A second later, the man came out and said, "Themaster is ready to see you." She followed the man into the room and wasshocked at what she saw.

             Emplate knew what he was doing. He wanted this girl to know what wouldhappen to her if she failed him. The look on her face showed him that hehad received the desired effect. He looked at the girl. She was a blond,about eighteen, and she had a very powerful mutant ability.  Fromwhat he could see, it had a great deal to do with aura manipulation. Hethen said to her, "Welcome to my home, Ms. Bonstein. I take it that youenjoyed your trip."
             She appeared to get her wits together and ask, "Who are you who can offerme vengeance on the one who ruined my plans?"  She jumped right tothe root of the meeting.
             "My name is Emplate. I have met with the target of your fury before. Whenhe first arrived at the airport, I tried to capture him, but he knew Iwas waiting. Later I attacked the school and he used my own abilities againstme. He is a mimic, who can even mimic personalities and thoughts. Thatis how he ruined your plans. I offer you the chance to ruin his life."
             "How do you know that my ex-cousin ruined my plans? I never said anythingabout my plans, and how my power could help me do that."
             "My unique abilities have earned me knowledge on sight. I know how muchyou hate your ex-cousin. I know of the plans that you had, and how theywere ruined."
             "Alright, but how does that help me in ruining his life?"
             "Do you know that he fears me the most? He fears that I will use his abilitiesto turn him into another being like me. He also fears for the safety ofthe girl he has fallen in love with, a former prisoner of mine. Your vengeancewould be to bring them to me and watching him suffer."
             He watched Elane Bonstein smile. There was something unique in the smile."And what if I fail?" There was a tone of defiance in her voice. She hadsomething up her sleeve and he couldn't tell what.
             "Then, I will have to sup on you." He held up his hands and let the mouthson them show.  Instead of recoiling back as he would have expected,Elane walked over to him.
             "Then, you will lose a chance at a woman who can offer you love. I canallow you to breathe without that respirator." His eyes went wide. Couldthis girl's abilities allow him to breathe without his respirator? He watchedher and noticed that her right hand had formed a cup.  He felt somethinglike a helmet on his shoulders. She approached him and said, "Remove themask." It was said so sweet that he felt he had to try.
             He heard D.O.A., his valet, yell, "Sir, it's a trick. She's going to killyou." He understood the concern, but this girl was so evil that she wasin love with him. He removed his respirator and breathed the air. It wasthe same as what went through his respirator.
             He let a smile cross his now visible face and said to Elane. "I believeyou have proven to be worthy of not being my meal."
             She smiled and said, "I can do this at any time for you. It is in thanksfor giving me the chance to wipe out Richard. You might want to get therespirator back on, for I will return my aura to its normal form soon."He was almost distracted when she kissed him, but he quickly did so.
             He gazed at her and said, "Together we can destroy Generation X. Now, Iwill transport you to the school at the time when everyone, except Richardand Yvette, will be gone. At that time, you will capture them and bringthem here, understand."
             "Perfect. Rich will never know what hit him." She laughed very viciouslyand Emplate took delight in hearing it.
             He turned to his valet and said, "D., take Elane to her quarters." D.O.A.escorted Elane out of the room and Emplate returned to his chair and satdown. Quietly he said, "Now, Richard and Yvette, I shall have both of youin my power." He started to laugh aloud.
*******************************************

             Emma Frost awoke in her bed when she heard a crash outside her window.She put a robe on and ran to the window. She opened the window and lookedout. She heard a voice say, "Cripes, this is not going to be a good day.I walked into Emma's home and fell into the shrubs.  The way thisday is going it should be about now when..." It was Richard Cale. For thepast two months, Rich had been the newest student. In a day's time, although,the ward of Rich's former uncle was going to be a student here. But Richwas never up this early, unless he had a nightmare.
             She looked down at Rich and said, "I hope you haven't had another nightmare,but judging by your mood, that is a long shot."  She knew about thesecret of Rich's nightmares, and she knew that last time, he was right.
             He looked up at her and said, "I'm sorry I woke you up. I figured thatyou got woken up, and yes, I did have a nightmare."  Emma watchedas Rich got up and brushed off his clothes. She noticed that he was veryupset.
             "Rich, would you like to talk about it, or maybe let me try and figureout what is bothering you about this nightmare?" She knew that Rich didnot like having her psionically probing his mind, but she hoped he wouldagree.
             It was a complete surprise to her when he said, "Maybe you can find somethingthat I can't" After what she did his second day at the school, Rich hadtold her, in his actions, that this nightmare had something that worriedhim.
             "Rich, I will be down in a moment. Wait for me at the door." She watchedas he nodded and headed toward the front door of her home. She quicklygot dressed, and headed down to open the door. She did not know how longRich had been outside, but it was cold that February night. She was wearingher white sweater as well as her usual winter outfit. She opened the doorand stepped back, allowing Rich to get through without his mutant abilitylatching onto hers. She closed the door and motioned to a couch, "Wouldyou like to sit down and tell me about it?"
             He sat down on the couch and said, "I can explain it, but it will not leadme to the solution to my problem. I would appreciate any help you can give,by going into my nightmare." This was what she least suspected he wouldask, for her to mentally look at his nightmare. She noticed that he relaxedhimself so he would not be knocked out like the last time. She then focusedon Rich's mind and entered that part where all his dreams were stored.She first saw the one where Emplate had attacked Rich. That one was whenshe discovered that his nightmares were usually omens of things to happen.She then found the recent nightmare. She watched as Rich and Yvette wererunning from something. The attacker seemed to be focused on Rich, butdidn't mind catching Yvette as well. The attacker took more of a form asshe watched.
             Eventually, Emma could determine that the attacker was a female, with thevoice of evil.  Emma wondered if Rich's psychic energy had generatedthis image of an enemy that he might have made in his past. She noticedthat Rich and Yvette had gone unconscious, while floating in the air, butthe dream was starting to fade out. She had to act quickly. She psionicsaid to the female form, [Who are you?]
             The form looked at her and said, With that Emma was knocked out of the confines of the dream by an unknownforce. She floated out of Rich's mind in bewilderment, not knowing whatto say.
             As she recovered from the occurrence, Rich said, "Are you alright?" Richalways behaved like a gentleman, at least when he was calm. She noticedthat there was a look of worry in his eyes.
             "I will be fine, Rich. I am going to contact Sean, but first I want toask you, the female attacker said she was relatively dangerous, do youhave any idea what that means?" He shook his head and Emma realized thatthis might be a possible problem. "Rich, I am going to talk to Sean aboutthis, alright." He nodded and Emma gave Sean a psionic call.

             Sean didn't like being awakened by Emma, but he remembered the last timeRich had a nightmare. If this was any indication of another attack by Emplate,they had all the right in the world to worry. A new mutant was going tojoin the school soon. When Rich received the letter from his former uncle,Rich said it was his last act from the grave. It was this day that Daria,a female mutant about Jubilee's age, was arriving at the school. When hearrived at Emma's home on the campus, Emma was waiting at the door. "SoRich had a nightmare. Is Emplate going to attack?"
             Emma looked at him and shook her head. She then said softly, "The attackerin Rich's dream was female, and someone that Rich knows. The thing is,Rich can't think of who it is. The person must be planning to attack whenRich and Yvette are here, according to Rich's dream, but Rich appearedto be the center of the attacker's focus." Sean didn't know if this wasworse or better. Knowing that it wasn't Emplate was a plus, but an unknownattacker was a minus.
             "Do ye think that it is someone who Rich had wronged?"
             "I'm not sure. I think we should ask him." Sean couldn't argue with thatand the two walked over to the room where Rich was waiting. The noticedthat Rich was laying on the couch.
             Rich looked at them and looked as if he was sorry for putting his feeton the couch. He quickly sat back up and then said, "More questions?"
             "Aye. Emma told me about the dream and I was wondering if there is anyonein yuir family or ye have met that ye have wronged." He knew he had regrettednot telling the students about his cousin, but he hoped that Rich didn'thave a skeleton in his closet like that.
             Rich looked at them and said, "I had given my parents strict instructionsthat they had to contact me, if and only if, someone had an urgent problemto talk to me about. I would contact them if I wanted to say 'Hello' tosomeone I had meet. None of the people who got on my bad side, or who Ihad gotten on the bad side of, knows where I am."
             "I hope yuir right, lad." He glanced at the clock and noticed the time."Rich, how long have ye been up?"
             "Since 3 AM, Sean."
             "You've been awake for two and a half hours now. What was the earliestthat ye have woken from these nightmares?"
             "3 AM."
             Sean didn't need to hear that. It might be a clue to how soon this mighthappen. "What was the second earliest?"
             "4 AM, when I had the nightmare with Emplate in it." The last time it wasa day that passed since the nightmare and the event.  Maybe therewas a link between the amount of time he slept and the time between thedream and event.
             "Rich, do ye think there might be a link between the time you slept andthe time till the attack?" He watched as Rich shuddered.  Somethingabout what he had just asked scared Rich.
             "Sean, I sometimes don't fall asleep until after midnight. The night Ihad the nightmare about Emplate was on about four hours sleep. This onewas after two hours sleep." Sean realized what his theory meant. The attackwould happen sometime today. If anything, they could not leave Rich andYvette alone at the school. He knew that Rich and Yvette always spent alot of time together.
             "I hope yur dream doesn't come true when we pick up Daria today."
             Rich's eyes widened in shock. "Omigosh, that's right. Today is the daythat Daria arrives.  The attack seemed to take place when you wereall gone. Then all I have to do is go to the airport, and everything willbe fine." He yawned with his last word.  Sean wondered if Rich wouldbe awake by the time they had to leave for the airport.
 

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment