Chapter 4 - Backfire

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
Backfire
               When he heard the warning, Rich stopped kissing Yvette and surveyed theroom. Immediately he saw the camera.  He stood and walked over tothe camera and with a claw, disabled it beyond repair.  Yvette walkedover to him and said, "What's going on?"
              Rich glanced at his watch and confirmed his suspicion.  "Emplate mustbe at the security controls, and if Aura is here, that gives them an advantage. They know where we are, and they have isolated everyone else.  I figurethat Emplate knows Godiva's password, so now we have to pull a trump cardto counter this."
              He walked over to a table in the corner of the room.  In his mind,Yvette said to him, {Rich, you know that the second Emplate grabs us, heis going to take us back to his lair.  What could you have thoughtup that could stop that?}  Rich found what he was looking for on thetable.  He opened the secret drawer and found a pair of wrist manacles.
              He closed the drawer and walked over to Yvette.  {I think this isone time that we can be thankful for these devices working.}  He placeda cuff on Yvette's left wrist, and the other on his right wrist. {Try and break them.}
              He knew that this probably reminded her of her life as Emplate's prisoner,and she would do almost anything to get free.  She start slashingat the chain and the shackle, and she stopped and said, {I can't breakthem.}  She was upset at this.
              {Relax.  They are made out of the same metal that 'The Rack' is madeout of.  This stuff has to be strong to stand up to Godiva's hair. I’ve seen her break a steel girder in half with it. When I ran a claw overthe chains, it didn't cut them.  The only way to separate us is tounlock the manacles.  Now to add more difficulty to that task.} He led them over to a life-size electric chair. He threw the key so itfell behind the chair, in such a way that one had to lean on the chairjust to see it.  He then pulled the switch to the chair, jamming itto the on position.  He figured that the museum had its own generator. He noticed a wall panel and went to it.  He found a control that adjustedthe voltage in the chair.  He switched it to the maximum setting anddestroyed the controls, keeping it set on that setting.  He turnedto Yvette and said, {What do you think will happen when either Emplateor Aura leans on that chair?}
              She had a look of fear in her eyes when she responded.  {They willdie.}
              {No, just get knocked unconscious, giving everyone sometime to find us,and get in here.  Now, we need a place to hide.}
              Yvette pointed in a direction and said, {How about under there?} He looked and saw the Gallows.  He nodded, and they ran over to it. They climbed to the top and opened the trapdoor in the floor.  Quickly,they climbed into the structure and had very little view of the room. Rich closed the door.  Yvette looked at him and said, {Now, what?}
              Rich just said, {We wait, my love.  We wait.}  It was crampedin the hiding place.  Even sitting was uncomfortable.  Eventually,he started to lay down.
              Yvette laid down right in front of him and said, {Hold me, please.}
              Rich got a little closer and said, {Alright, but it might take a few seconds.} He worked his right arm around her and then placed his left arm under herside and took her hands.  {Is that alright?}
              Yvette just squeezed his hands and said, {Yes.}  They just lay intheir hiding spot, waiting for what would happen.  Rich felt himselfnodding off to dreamland, and he could tell that Yvette was in the samestate.  He thought of all the precautions he had made.  He figuredthat they would allow them both to be at ease.  Rich then fell asleep.

              Cartier was confused by what was going on, but he had no doubt that hisson was behind it.  He knew that there was a trigger in the room somewhere,but the only trick was finding it.  He started to examine the statuesin the room as he said, "Monet, help me find the trigger to the secretdoor.  We have to stop Marius."
              He was caught off guard by the answer he received.  "Why should Istop the one I support?"  He turned and saw Monet looking at him,with an evil smile on her face.
              He knew who was talking instantly.  "Claudia."  He knew thatthe entity that Monet called Mentor was trying to help her repress Claudia,and that the 'autistic' attacks were struggles with Claudia.  He hadalso figured that it was then that Claudia talked with Emplate.
              "You're not as dumb as you look, Pop."  He and Claudia never got along,but then, she always supported Marius' deeds.  "I just wish that Mariushadn't left me out of his plans.  I guess that's my fault for beingstuck with Little Goodie Two Shoes."
              He looked her square in the eye and said, "I doubt he will help you now. He's probably hunting Rich down, and Monet's friends will stop him."
              She laughed a menacing laugh and said, "I have helped him so many timesthat you have no idea of what happened.  When I talk to Marius, Monettries to stop me.  She has to mentally freeze 'our' body.  Backin the center of the museum, I told him that Rich went into the museum."His fears were confirmed.  "He was at the security console, and heknows where Rich is, as well as all of us."
              Cartier wanted to strike his daughter, but he knew that he would hurt Monet. He also wondered what else Claudia had done.  "I am beginning to wishthat I didn't have you as a daughter."
              "Because I help Marius.  I told him where Yvette was.  I toldhim about Yvette in the first place.  Remember our trip to Yugoslavia. I noticed Yvette and told Marius about her.  I plan to do one lastthing and finally stay in control of this..."  Her words trailed ofas Cartier heard her scream.  When the screaming stopped, Monet lookedstunned and said, "I won't let you win Claudia.  You have caused enoughdanger."
              Cartier ran to his daughter's side.  He saw that she was drained,due to her experience. He said, "Are you alright, Monet?"
              His daughter hugged him and said, "Father.  I don't know how I lostcontrol.  She seemed to gain strength.  I don't know if I canhold her back anymore."
              Cartier just held her and said, "Remember what happened last time she tookcontrol and Marius was around."  He felt her shudder.  He hadto separate the three of them, and Marius was forced to wear a respiratorafter that day.  He was about to continue when the communicator madea sound.  Monet activated it and he then heard the boy named Leechtell some unsettling news.

              Emplate had opened the door to the chamber on Inner Earth.  He glancedaround the room, before closing the door behind him.  If he guessedright, the two mutant children, Artie and Leech, would hide and contactthe others.  This meant that everyone would find out where Rich andPenance were, and by the time they got in, it would be too late. He heard the faint beep of the communicator.  The kids were smartenough not to challenge him.  To him, they would be a mere snack. He thought about supping on them, but then thought it best to wait. He approached the door to the Inhumanities exhibit and typed in the password.
              Once inside, he shut the door and changed the password.  When he changedit, he choose a random set of numbers and letters.  This would keepeveryone guessing.  He smiled inwardly and looked at the room. He knew Rich and Penance were hiding in there.  He just said, "I knowyou're in here, so make it easy on yourselves and give up."  He reachedinto every shadow, hoping to grab them, only to find nothing.  Heheard a crackle, and spun to grab his prey. All he saw was the remnantsof the camera.
              He growled in frustration.  He knew that those two were in here. He had the strength to hold out for a few days, after supping constantlyon Godiva Cale.  He then noticed something he hadn't seen before. He turned to one of the displays and saw the auras of Rich and Penance."Found you.  Now it's time to take you home."  He moved to thetop of the display and opened the trapdoor.  He had to admit thatPenance's attire was very appealing, but it would suit him better to haveher in restraints, much stronger than he had on her before.  And Richwould become a second Emplate, willing or not.  The first thing wasto separate the two.  No problem, he thought as he climbed down intothe little area.
              He noticed that Rich was holding Penance in a tender, loving way. Emplate inwardly laughed as he thought that the next time that Rich wouldhold her was as a feast.  He started to pull them out of the areawhen he noticed something.  "No!!!"  was all he shouted, butthe two didn't wake up.  What he saw ruined his plans for a quickescape.  Rich and Penance were manacled together.  He lookedfrantically for the key, but couldn't find it.  This must have beenRich's idea.  The key wouldn't be on them, so it must be somewherein the room.  The longer he searched for it, the more time he gaveGen X to find them.  He knew that everything in this room was madeto withstand Godiva's hair, and had figured that Rich and Penance put onthe manacles because they couldn't cut them.  He had to find out wherethe key was.  He then noticed something in the room.  He glancedat the happy couple and said, "You will tell me where the key is, and thenwe will leave here."  He dragged the sleeping pair to the device hewould use.

              Emma Frost listened to the communication of Emplate's movement and wonderedwhy he went into the Inhumanities room, until Godiva said, "Somebody hitme.  I should have thought of that."
              Emma shot a glare at Rich's cousin, who she got paired with in the searchand said, "Thought of what?"
              Godiva was blushing, due to embarrassment, when she said, "Since Kyuukaiand I had that room isolated, and everything specially built."
              Emma felt she could complete the thought and said, "Rich thought that roomwould be the safest."  Godiva nodded.  "But, if Emplate had fedoff you, he knows your password for the room."
              Godiva nodded and said, "Yes, but everything is built so my hair can'tbreak it.  You remember what Rich's claws couldn't do to the chains." Emma did remember that.
              "So, that must mean that Rich must have figured a way to throw some trumpcards to counter Emplate.  I wonder if it was planned out when hewent in there."
              "Knowing Rich, it was.  Emma?"
              Emma turned to face Godiva, "Yes?"
              "I was wondering.  What happened when Elane attacked the school?"
              Emma thought how to phrase it best, and then said, "All but Rich, Yvette,and Paige were away from the school.  Rich was asleep, after havinga nightmare."
              "That's a bad sign."
              "It was.  That was how we knew that Elane was going to attack. She managed to crush Paige's waist, and almost had taken Rich and Yvette. They were unconscious when we got there, but we had stopped Elane fromtaking them."  Emma started to feel a bit lightheaded.
              "Who stopped Elane?"
              Emma said, "I think it was a joint effort by Jubilee and Daria." All of a sudden, her mind was on fire and all she heard were screams. She could tell there were two tones in the screams and realized what mustbe happening.  She looked at Godiva and said, "I fear that Rich andYvette are being tortured."  She saw Godiva's eyes go wide, and thenGodiva scurried around the room, looking for a trigger.
              Emma moved over to a display and leaned on it.  She bumped the itemand a door opened.  Godiva glanced over and said, "The door was triggeredto the bear.  Good going."Emma looked at the bear and saw what itwas.  She figured that she would rather not know what an old TeddyRuxbin talking bear was doing in there.  She entered the tunnel andalmost ran into Jubilee and Everett.

              Daria was startled when Emma and Godiva came through the wall.  Shewas half expecting Aura to attack.  She slowly thought back to howmuch her life had changed since she was pulled into Zero Tolerance. Now, she was in a mission to stop Emplate and Aura.  She saw Emmaglance at all the people there, which had included herself and Mondo, Jubileeand Everett, and Monet and her father.  Daria was impressed how Cartiergot them out of the rooms.  Emma then said, "Is everybody alright?"
              Jubilee looked at her and said, "Just a bit shook up by events, but wecan get through this and save Penny and Rich, right?"
              Godiva spoke up and said, "If Rich is using that crazy mind of his, yes. Rich loved to think things out.  He picked that room because of allthe things in it."
              It was Everett who then said, "But we all saw Yvette's reaction, and Richwouldn't go there."
              Godiva replied, "Exactly, the last place one would look.  That's howhe thinks, sometimes.  Remember this, Rich loves to be unpredictable. He has scared me many a time like that.  It's no wonder my littlebrother always adored him."
              Emma said, "Because of your father's death."
              Godiva looked stunned and said, "How did you know about that?"
              Monet then said, "Rich's parents told us about that."  She startedwalking toward the next room and got to the trapdoor.  "Daria, doyou think you can force the door open.  I think Jono might be in trouble." She had an idea of what that might be.  She walked over to the doorand saw a box of pegs on the floor.  At the door were ten holes, eachwith a different pattern in it. It was obvious that the holes changed formseach night.  Daria manipulated her fingers so that each was rightin front of a hole.  She then used her ability to form the pegs foreach hole.
              When the door opened, Daria saw a sight that scared her.  Jono wason the ground, with the fire in his chest very dim.  They all raninto the room and she asked Paige, "What happened?"
              Paige just looked at them, with tears in her eyes, and said, "He just screamedin agony. He said he couldn't take their screams.  What's happenedto him?"
              Emma then said, "Paige, Mondo, get Jono to the Mythology room.  Richand Yvette's psionic screams must have cause him severe injury." Daria watched as Paige and Mondo picked up Jono and carted him off to thepassage.  Once they cleared the door, Emma turned to Godiva and said,"Ok, Godiva, open the door."
              Godiva just looked at her and said, "Sorry Ms. Frost, but this door hasKyuukai's password on it.  Mine is on the door in the Inner EarthRoom."
              Daria watched as Emma started to say, "Then we...."  She collapsedto the ground. Daria ran over and saw the look in her eyes.  She wasunconscious.  The psionic scream must have knocked her out.
              She stood up and said, "I have an idea.  I can try to break this doordown, while you get the others to the other door."  She knew she wastaking a risk, but it was worth it.  Rich was her legal guardian.
              Monet walked over to her and said, "You can't stand alone here."
              "If you brother is in there, then the only problem is Aura.  And Emmacan't stop her, just try to get to the other door.  I'll do my jobby trying to get in, and keeping an eye on Emma." Her arms transformedinto two metal sledgehammers. Monet led the others out and Daria startedto force her way into the room.

              Rich saw himself in a tuxedo.  He hated the suit, but he swore thatthere would only be two times in his life that he would wear one, on hiswedding day, and his funeral.  He was in a church.  He turnedto face the back of the building.  His family was on one side, andon the other side was all of Gen X.  He then saw the bride comingdown the isle, escorted by Sean Cassidy. When the bride reached his side,he saw Yvette's face under the veil.  She just looked at him and said,"Are we dreaming the same thing?"
              He then realized that they were asleep.  "We must be.  But oursubconscious must allow us to stay with each other in our dreams."
              "I hope that this scene is in our future."  He had to agree with heron that.  For once, he hoped that a good dream would come true.
              He was startled by the next voice heard, "Dearly beloved, we are gatheredhere to see these two joined together in their destined path."  Theyboth turned and saw Emplate standing where the minister was.  He felta pain seize his body.  Instantly, he collapsed to the floor.
              He turned his head to see Yvette had done the same, but her black restraintswere back, except they were different.  She looked at him, scaredand said, "What happened to the dream?"
              He looked around and saw everyone was dead.  He faced front, expectingEmplate to be gloating over them.  He was shocked to see that evenEmplate was dead.  He stood up and looked at where the cross had been,but now a person that he didn't ever see before was there. He then lookedat himself.  The tux was replaced by a leather jacket and what hehad been wearing.  What had happened to this dream, and then it slowlyhit him.  He glanced at his hands. It confirmed his fears, this wasthe worse nightmare he could have.  Slowly, he finally realized itand said, "It can't be."
              He saw Yvette stand up and glance at her hands in fear as well.  "No. It can't be, it can't be."  He felt another bolt of pain seize hisbody.  He closed his eyes as he and Yvette both screamed.
              When he opened his eyes, he looked up at the ceiling in the Inhumanitiesroom.  He glanced to his right to see Yvette laying next to him, hereyes still closed with tears coming out. He then saw that they were lyingon a table.  It took him less then a second to realize that they wereon the 'Rack'.  Soon, Emplate walked into view.  He knew whatEmplate wanted right now, and Emplate just said, "The location of the key,Richard, and this pain will stop."
              "I'd rather take this pain, then suffer the pain of being like you." He hoped that he put up enough bravado up to fool Emplate.
              Emplate just looked at them and said, "And what about Penance?  Doyou care for her so much to end this pain she is suffering."  Emplatewas starting to make him want to tell him the key.  He couldn't bareto see Yvette in pain.
              "It's better than having you feed on me, Emplate."  He felt proudknowing that Yvette would endure this.  She knew that they had tohold out until help arrived.  She then said to him {Listen in thebackground.}
              He listened to the background noise and heard a steady metallic beat. {It must be Daria, trying to break one of the doors down.  Why doesn'tshe get Kyuukai?}
              He noticed that Emplate heard the sound as well and started to laugh. "You know, Richard, I doubt that Daria will break down the door. And since Kyuukai and Godiva are on the wrong sides of the building, wehave some time to talk."  Emplate turned a crank on the table andhe and Yvette screamed in pain, this time verbally.  "Where is thekey to those manacles?"
              "Up yours," he shouted at Emplate.  Emplate stepped back from thedevice for a moment.  He was sure that they could hold out until helparrived.
              Emplate just walked over and looked at them.  "Maybe a rest is inorder.  Maybe my beloved, Elane, can find a way to persuade you totalk.  As for now..."
              Yvette panickally said, {He going to grab us.}  Rich then saw Emplate'shand coming straight for him, and he noticed one over Yvette's head. All of a sudden, there was a pain similar to many knifes.  He feltEmplate feeding off him.  It was painful.  It was an attemptto weaken his will.  When Emplate stopped, Yvette said to him, {Imanaged to stay strong.  I didn't give in.}
              He glance over at Emplate, who had walked away from them.  {But forhow long until we tell him were the key is?}  He felt her shudderthrough the manacles.  He then said, {I'm afraid that we might notbe leaving with Gen X.}
 

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