Chapter 5 - Emplate Wins

Attention:  Generation X and theirvillians, as well as any other mutant mentioned in this story, is propertyof Marvel Comics.  The character Richard Cale is named after familyrelations.  Any other reference to anything copywrighted is a chancehappening.
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Stranger And Stranger
Emplate Wins
               Angelo looked about the room.  He was stuck in the one on the BermudaTriangle with Franklin.  He was half afraid that the boy's abilitiesmight bring the displays to life.  It had been a while since theyheard that Emplate entered the Inhumanities room.  Now all they hadto do was find the trigger mechanism to open the door.  He saw thatthe boy was scared.  He wasn't to sure on how to comfort the boy,but he would need Franklin's help to get them out of the room.  Heturned to Franklin and said, "Are you alright?"
              Franklin just looked at him and said, "I'm scared."  Angelo didn'twant to admit it, but he was scared as well.
              He went over to Franklin and said, "Well, you have to put your fears aside. Rich and Yvette are depending on us.  They are trapped by Emplate,and if we don't get to them soon, we may never see them again."  Franklinshivered.  It was obvious that the boy was scared.
              "I don't want Penny to be taken, and neither Rich." Angelo knew that thecouple always spent time with the kids, playing games and such.  Angeloremembered one time that everyone there had a campout right at the treehouse. He remembered as Rich told them a tale about monsters, and heroes. Franklin broke his thought when he said, "Why don't we just use the triggerfrom before?"
              "I don't think it would work.  They were reset when the announcementwent off."  He then let a smile cross his face.  He had thoughtof a way to get out of the room, and quickly.  He faced Franklin andsaid, "Do you think you can alter reality in this room?"
              Franklin looked abit stunned at this request.  "Why?"
              "If you can alter reality so that it is like it was before the triggerwas changed, we can open the door.  Right now, this won't open thedoor."  Angelo worked at the UFO display and notice that no doorsopened in the room.  "Understand."
              Franklin nodded and started to concentrate.  Soon, everything wasglowing and then, the glow subsided.  Franklin looked drained as hesaid, "I think I did it."
              Angelo worked the same combination as before and the door opened. "Great.  Now we better get to the others."  They entered thesecret passage and went to the next door.  Almost as he started toattempt to open it, the door opened and Sean started coming through.
              "Angelo, lad, how did ye get out of the room ye were in."  ObviouslySean was surprised by his presence.
              Franklin answered the question quickly.  "I change reality in theroom so the trigger was in the UFO display."
              Kyuukai, who was starting to head out the door said, "Brilliant move, butit must have been tiring."
              The boy nodded and then Angelo said, "We should get to the Artie and Leech. Those two must be scared right now."  Sean nodded and they headedfor the room the boys were in.

              Sean couldn't believe it.  His worse thoughts were coming true. Both Rich and Yvette were in the clutches of Emplate.  He hoped thatRich had thought of enough tricks to keep Emplate's plan from working. When he finally got to the room on the Inner Earth displays, Artie andLeech immediately came out of hiding.  Leech looked at him and said,"They still in there?"
              He didn't want to scare them, but he had to answer truthfully, "I hopeso, lad.  I hope so."  He walked over to the door and lookedat it.  He then looked at Kyuukai and said, "Okay, lass, what's thepassword?"
              He saw Kyuukai shrug and said, "Don't know.  That's Godiva door. It's her password."
              Sean didn't need to hear that, but at the time, all he could do was contactEmma.  Emma had gone with Godiva on the search.  He activatedcommunicator and said, "Emma, are ye there?" He heard a metal clangingsound in the background.  He called again, just a bit louder. "Emma, where are ye?"
              He heard another voice on the communicator, shouting above the clanging. "She can't here you.  She's out cold."  It had sounded like Daria'svoice.
              "Daria, is that ye?"
              "Yes sir.  I'm trying to break through the door."  He had togive the girl credit.  She was going to try anything to save Richand Yvette, but then he knew that Rich was her legal guardian.
              "Is Godiva there?"
              "You mean she isn't over at the other door."  This had him worried.
              He called everyone and said, "Where is Godiva, and does anybody know whyEmma is out cold?"
              The first voice to answer was Jono's.  "She went out when Richand Yvette let out psionic screams.  The blighter Emplate must betorturing them.  They must have put a wrench in 'is plans.  Hadme incapacitated for awhile."  He realized that the screams musthave played havoc with Jono's ability.
              The second voice was that of Jubilee.  "Godiva's with us.  Weare at the base of the stairway.  We hit an obstacle."
              Sean had an idea what it was.  "It's Aura, isn't it."
              Godiva then said, "Yea, it's the dog.  She and Everett are havingabit of an aura stand off.  Unfortunately, his force with two handsis doing nothing to move her force with one hand." The way that she saidit showed her hatred of Aura.
              "Godiva, can ye tell us your password for the door to the Inhumanitiesroom."
              Just then Kyuukai, who was looking at the door said to him, "It won't help." He was shocked and he faced her.  She then said, "Emplate changedthe password as soon as he entered the room.  There are now two options. The first is to go in through my door."
              Just then, a groggy voice spoke, "Then we need your password."  Itwas Emma.  Sean was relieved to hear her voice.
              He said, "Emma, how are ye feelin."
              "I'll be fine as long as Rich and Yvette don't yell anymore, and if Dariawill stop hammering at the door."  He heard the clanging stop as Emmacontinued.  "Now, Kyuukai what is your password."
              He noticed that Kyuukai was about to answer when he heard everyone yelling. He yelled into the communicator and said, "What's going on?"
              The voice that responded was shouting something he didn't need to here. "I'm beating you to the punch, loser."  It was Aura, and she was headedfor the door as well.

              Elane realized what Gen X was going to do.  They were going to useKyuukai's password and rescue Rich and Penance.  It was time for herto act.  She placed a second hand forward and ran down the steps. The momentum of her moving aura pushed everyone down the corridor. She heard Banshee's voice over the communicator and she told the loseroff.  They had cost her her revenge the first time, but not the second. She ran into the first door and closed it. Now that part of Gen X couldn'tfollow her.  She turned and faced Emma Frost.  The woman lookedat her and said, "You're not going any farther, Aura."  The woman'seyes started to glow and a bolt knocked her to the ground.
              Elane just looked at Emma.  She could tell that Emma Frost was proudof her looks, just by the way she dressed.  Elane then noticed thatanother figure was running straight for her. It was Daria.  Elanerolled out the way of the oncoming attack and go up.  She noticedDaria still had sledgehammers for fists, and was preparing to strike. Elane just manipulated her aura again and said, "Emma, be a dear and standhere."  She noticed the shocked look on Emma's face as her arms werestraight out from her sides and she was pulled in front of Daria's attack.
              Elane heard Emma scream in pain as Daria hit her straight in her chest. She heard Daria gasp and then exclaim, "I'll get you before you get inthat door, Aura.  I'll make you pay for that." The girl took flightand rammed straight into her, making her drop Emma.
              Elane looked at Daria and said, "Wrong move."  She held her hand ina grasping motion and twist it.  She watched as Daria's legs bentback.  She was amazed to see that miniature rockets were in the girl'sshoes.  Daria then went flying backwards, knocking down a now recoveringEmma.  When Daria finally stopped, Elane noticed that the two wereon a pile on the floor.  Elane used her aura to hold them down andsaid, "Nobody move."  She moved over to the door and entered passcode. It opened and she sneaked in.  She removed her aura and said to thetwo women, "How I wish I was into blackmail."
              Elane closed the door and changed the password.  She then turned andsaw Emplate facing her.  He looked like he was upset.  Emplatejust said, "I was hoping you would show up. Rich won't crack, even undermy own personal assault."
              Elane turned and saw Rich and Penance on the Rack.  She noticed atrail of blood running down their foreheads.  She smiled and said,"You were hungry.  What needs to be done?"
              "Rich has manacle himself to Penance, and neither will say were the keyis.  Maybe you can persuade Rich to let us in on his secret."
              Elane just smiled and walked over to the rack.  She watched as bothof the captive's stared in fear at her.  She looked at them and said,"This will be my pleasure.  I have an idea.  I'll take turnscrushing a part of your bodies.  Penance first."  She rammedher fist down in the air and heard Penance scream in pain.
              She watched as tears came from her former cousin's eyes.  This wasmore than he could take, for he finally broke down.  "The key is underthe last place to sit."  She stopped and stood up.  That wastoo easy.  She would have figured that each would last through atleast one attack.
              Her lover just said, "What does that mean?"  She was about to pressureRich for more when she heard the answer.  A constant electric hum. She left the rack and ran over to the Electric Chair.
              "No wonder he gave in.  He had this figured.  Take a look." She waited until Emplate was by her side.  "Rich must have jammedthe chair into the max setting and one.  He must have the key underthe chair in such a way that we have to touch the chair just to see it."
              She noticed a gleam in her lover's eye.  "Barricade the doors. If you changed the password as well, Gen X will do the rest for us." She was puzzled by this, but she figured that he knew something.
              "What's the plan now?"
              "There is one way to open those doors, and that is to cut the power tothis room."  She heard movement and glanced back at the Rack. Now Rich was trying to break the chains, but she knew that he couldn't. She just laughed.  All they had to do was wait.

              Everett could not believe the force that he had been hit with.  Hetruly understood how powerful Aura was now.  He got up and then pulledeveryoneelse up.  As he helped Jubilee up, she said to him, "I'm beginningto wish this was Sabertooth we were dealing with."
              He was puzzled by this remark.  She had told him about the time thatthe power went out at the X-Men's headquarters, before the Phalanx attacked,and when Sabertooth almost killed her.  He just looked at her andsaid, "Why?"
              "Because, we know Sabertooth.  We know very little about Aura." He had to agree with her on that.  He thought he could push Aura back,but her control over her power was much better than his control of thosepowers.  He could handle Angelo's, Jubilee's, Sean's and some of theothers fairly well, and even better, but he had never had to control apower he couldn't see.
              His thoughts were cut short when Sean's voice came over the communicator. "Is everyone alright?"
              "Just shaken up.  We're heading back to the room.  Why?"
              "Emma and Daria aren't responding to me calls.  I think that Auramight have injured them severely, or worse."  He didn't like how thatsounded, and by the look on everyone else's faces, neither did they.
              He noticed that Godiva rushed ahead.  She stopped at a spot and said,"Damn, she closed the door."  He watched as Godiva started searchingfor the pegs to open the door.
              Monet walked over to the door and said, "May I?"  He watched as Monetjust looked at the holes for the pegs and then placed the pegs in the correspondingholes.
              Godiva turned and said, "Cartier, how smart is Monet?"  Nobody wantedto answer the question, and then the door opened.  Godiva glancedin the door and stepped back and said, "I wonder if Elane placed them inthat position.  I don't think they did it themselves."
              Everett looked in and saw what she meant.  Daria and Emma were layingon top of each other.  He and everyone else ran in and help get thetwo to their feet.  They were just recovering from the attack whenCartier said, "What happened?"
              Emma was the first to answer.  "Aura had shut the door and I knockedher down with a psi-bolt.  She dodged Daria's attacked and then usedme as a shield.  I was just getting to my feet when Daria flew intome.  She was acting as if she was out of control."
              Daria then said, "That was when Aura grabbed hold of my legs and bent theback at the knees.  I didn't know how that was affecting my flying,but it did."  Everett was surprised by this, as was everybody else.
              Monet just looked at her and said, "When could you fly?"
              "I don't know.  I just did."  Everett then looked over at thedoor.  He noticed something that nobody else had probably seen. There was a flashing sign on it.  Daria noticed it and said, "I hopethat's not a bad sign."
              Everett just sighed and said, "I think the password is useless." He watched as Godiva walked over to the door and cursed.  She motionedhim to contact Sean.  He did so and said, "Sean, I think we need somethingbetter than a password."
              It was Kyuukai that replied, "Godiva, what about the generator?  Doyou think we could get in if we deactivate it?"
              He heard Godiva say, "Yes, but some of us have to wait here, and the doormight be barricaded."
              Another voice came over the communicator, that of Paige.  "We candeactivate the generator, if that's what it will take to free Rich andYvette."
              Sean replied, "Good.  Godiva, Kyuukai, could ye tell them were togo."  Everett then listened as Godiva recited the instructions. Then Sean said, "Daria, ye might want to persuade the door to open. Everett, do yur best to help her.  I will try to knock the door openfrom my end." Everett then got in synch with Daria and the two got readyto open the door.

              Paige had listen intently to what Godiva said.  She then led Jonoand Mondo to where the generator was.  She knew the consequences ifthey failed.  Emplate had attacked the school on a couple of occasions,and all had left a major impact, and all of those were when they won. Shewas almost started when she heard Jono said, "Come on, luv.  Wehave to stop Emplate."
              "Jono, Ah hope we manage to save them."  She was worried for bothRich and Yvette, and she even heard the concern in her voice.
              Mondo, who even had a worried look on his face, said, "I hope so too. Although I must admit I am concerned how it will effect Daria.  Shesees Rich as her guardian."
              Paige just glanced at Mondo.  The way Mondo was talking seemed topoint toward one thing.  "Mondo, do you have a crush on Daria?" She noticed that he nodded sheepishly.
              She was about to say something when Jono said, {You know the look.}
              She just looked at him and whispered, "I could swear that you had a crushon Penance when she first arrived."
             "I thought of her as a kindred spirit.  At the time, we would neverhave expected her to return to the state she is in now, but then." He had stopped speaking, and Paige saw why, but she also knew the end tohis statement.  They had reached the generator room.  He thensaid, "Ladies first."
              "Thank you, Jono"  She opened the door and saw a generator and a smallerversion of it connected to a computer.  She walked over to the computerand looked over it.  A screen showed that the entire lights, securityand display set up.  She noticed that the inhumanities had a largeamount of electricity heading towards it and figured that it must havebeen the doors.  She then looked at the generator display and sawit read:
                             MAIN GENERATOR: OPERATIVE
                             EMERGENCY GENERATOR:  STAND BY
                             COMPUTER POWERED BY: MAIN
                             SECURITY POWER: FULL
                             LIGHTING POWER:  FULL
                             DISPLAY POWER:  FULL (STRAINED)
              The last word was flashing.  Jono looked at it and said, "Somethingmust be pulling alot of power."
              Mondo then said, "Wouldn't that mean that the generator might explode ifnot shut off." Paige's eyes went wide.  She knew what that meant. Whatever Emplate was doing to Rich and Yvette must be taking alot of energy.
              Paige replied, "Yeah, and if we don't stop it soon, we'll be at groundzero of the explosion."  She raced over the controls and switchedthe computer over to the back-up generator and then shut off the main generator. She looked at the display which now read:
                             MAIN GENERATOR: OFF-LINE
                             EMERGENCY GENERATOR:  OPERATIVE
                             COMPUTER POWERED BY: EMERGENCY
                             SECURITY POWER: OFF
                             LIGHTING POWER:  MINIMUM
                             DISPLAY POWER:  OFF
              Jono, who had removed the bandages covering the hole in his chest, said,"Paige,I'm beginning to have a bad feeling about this."
              Paige turned to her boyfriend, concerned, and said, "Why?"  She wasscared when he said that.
              He just looked at her with tears in his eyes.  She had never seenhim cry, but he was as he said, "They are screaming again.  Screamingthat Emplate has them."
              She quickly tapped the communicator and said, "Godiva, can you hear me?"
              Godiva's voice answer the call.  "Yes, but something is happeninghere, Emma just collapsed in pain.  Daria and Everett are trying tohammer the door in, and I think Sean is trying it on the other side withhis screams."
              Paige abit concerned about all said, "Is there anything in the Inhumanitiesroom that would take alot of power."
              "Just the electric chair display, if it was jammed on the highest setting. Can knock a person unconscious, why?"
              Paige put two and two together.  Emplate wouldn't use the chair, butRich and Yvette might have, as a defense measure.  "We'll be rightdown, and get into the room, fast."  She turned to Jono and Mondoand said, "We better hurry, or else Rich and Yvette won't be in the roomany longer."  With that, they headed off to the room.

              Rich listened as Emplate and Elane were barricading the doors.  Heknew that they had everything running in their favor.  Emplate hadsuccessfully capture them, but he now needed the key.  Rich heardYvette stir and she said, {What's happening?}  He noticed that shehad tensed up.  He couldn't help but do the same.
              {Emplate and Elane have barricaded the doors.  They know where thekey is.  They figure that the only way that Gen X can get in is toshut off the power.}
              {Will they shut off the power?}  He knew what she was hinting at.
              {They don't know the spot we are in, but the second the lights dim, andthe electric hum stops, Emplate has us.  I just have to wonder aboutone thing.}
              {And that is?}
              {How did he know when to leave the display room and attack early, unless..} His thought was cut short buy the flicker of the lights.  When thelights came back on, they were dim. He also didn't hear the electric hum. He turned to Yvette and said, {Psionicly yell.  If we get someoneto understand us, we might be saved.}  They both yelled about theirimpending doom.
              Rich heard Elane go, "Yes.  Time to get out of here."  They hadthe key.  It would be over in seconds.  He also head the doorsstarting to give.  Would luck remain on their side?
              He saw Emplate looking over them.  Emplate had the key and unlockedthe manacles. He felt himself lifting off the table.  It was Elane. She had done the same to Yvette.  Emplate just looked at him and said,"When you awake, you'll be at your new home."  He felt the pressurepush him into unconsciousness.  Soon, darkness overcame him.
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              It wasn't to long after he started that he knocked through the door. Sean quickly ran into the room and saw the most horrible site he had everseen.  Then, everyone else came in the other door.  Emma, wholooked as if she was hit by a mack truck, said, "What happened?"
              Everyone else just stood there.  He heard the little one's crying,but he also heard Daria crying.  He knew why.  Godiva just lookedat the room and was speechless.  Sean decided to voice the answer,"I think that we were too late."
              He then saw Paige, Jono and Mondo run in.  Mondo ran to Daria's side,but Paige just said, "Did we save them?"  When Sean shook his head,Paige just said, "I thought so."
              He was wondering what the girl was thinking and said, "What is it, lass?"
              Paige answered his question, "When we turned off the power, we just handedthem over.  Emplate must have wanted us to turn off the power. There was alot of power going into this room, which meant that a displaywas taking it.  Godiva said it was the Electric Chair display, andI figure that Rich must have activated it, but why as a defense?"
              He noticed that Kyuukai had walked over to the display of the Rack andheld up a pair of manacles.  She just said, "This is why.  Richmust have manacled himself to Yvette and then put the key under the chairin such a way that the chair would have shocked anyone going for the key." Sean then realized that his worse fears had entirely come true.
              Godiva looked at him and said, "What are you going to do now?"
              Sean knew that Rich's family should never know about what problems he wouldencounter.  He just replied, "Godiva, keep this a secret from hisfolks, alright.  We know where Emplate's lair is.  We will headback to the school and plan an attack from there.  What we do knowis that we have about a week to do it in."  The girl just sighed andhe led everyone out. They had to leave.
              As they were leaving, Sean noticed Cartier walking to him.  He stoppedand told everyone else to continue.  Sean noticed that Monet seemednervous.  It was after all had left that Cartier said, "Be carefulif Monet enters one of her spells.  Get her out of it as soon as youcan, and make sure you get her out."  Cartier walked away and Seanwondered what that meant as he went to the van.  Gen X had to leavesoon to rescue Rich and Yvette.
 

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