The Cale Storyline Story 1 Chapter 3

Attention: Generation X and their villains, as well as any other mutant mentioned in this story, is property of Marvel Comics. The character Richard Cale is named after family relations. Any other reference to anything copyrighted is a chance happening.

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Changes

Chapter 3: Fear Of The Unknown (Updated Version)

He couldn't believe it. The pain, the trauma, it was enough to almost defeat his own personality. He saw thoughts in his mind, a war torn country, the image of a man wearing a mask. He couldn't picture anything else. He started moving his arms as if to knock this man away, but it wasn't working. He heard then in his mind a voice. It was sounded in a strange dialect, and language. He could identify it. He knew it as Serbo-Croatian. It sounded female. The voice was almost psyonic but it was not like Ms. Frost's voice. It was as if this voice was asking him to talk to her. He opened his eyes the people were shouting at someone. He could all of a sudden remember his personality and finally it stopped. The person must have stepped away. He tried to speak, but it was a great strain. He looked at his hands. They were red and claw like.

They all ran to the man. She couldn't believe it. As she approached him from the shadows, he had stopped talking and collapsed onto the floor. As she watched, he started turning into her. When everyone rushed to him, they seemed to realize something was happening and she was the cause. The girl that was related to Him, pointed in her direction and the man who was in charge started shouting something. It wasn't until Jubilee, the one that treated her like a sister motioned in a step back way. She stepped back and the man stopped thrashing.

The man started to get up and look around. He looked in her direction. His face and hair had taken on the same qualities as her. He looked like he was really concentrating and then said, "It's Okay. You didn't know about what would happen. I take it you can understand me now." It was in her native tongue. She was amazed. He was handsome in his way and she thought that he could truly understand. He then said, "We'll talk later, Ok." Upon which, he started to look normal again. Someone she could communicate with, someone who could talk with her. For the first time in her life since Him, she wasn't afraid at all.

The look of shock on his face as well as everyone else's were the same. To say that Angelo was shocked was understating the obvious. Not since his days in LA did he ever see something this shocking. The man spoke in a strange language and Penance understood every word. When he returned to a normal form, Sean said, "Lad, what the hell did ye say, and in what language."

Rich looked at everyone, then looked at Penance. He then turned back to everyone and said, "I spoke to her in her native tongue. I take it you didn't know she was Yugoslavian."

"How in the world did you figure that one out?" Monet asked. She was a bit dumb struck by this turn of events.

Rich looked at her and said, "You're the smart one, aren't you?"

"Yes, why?"

"You lack common sense. I have a relative exactly like that."

"How can you say such a thing?"

"Did you listen to what I said?"

"Of course I did. I heard every word you said until.... Oh."

Jubilee smiled and said, "It's okay, Monet. He pulled the same thing on me."

Rich glanced in Penance's direction and she smiled. Rich returned the smile and said, "It appears I have made my first friend here."

"Lad, how did ye figured out she was from Yugoslavia?" Sean asked.

"Okay, I saw images of a war-torn country and I heard a language in my head. I somehow identified it as Serbo-Croatian. With recent history, I do believe Yugoslavia is a war-torn country, and as part of a report on the country, I found out its language."

"You have a good memory." Everett said, obviously impressed.

"I remember trivia. It comes in handy sometimes."

"Well now, lad. I think you need a quiet tour to show you around. Angelo, I think you have the first task."

"Si, if you will follow me, Rich, I shall show you around the grounds, and over to the computer center."

Angelo headed out of the hall. In a couple of seconds, Rich fell into step behind him and said, "Lead the way, senor. By the way, what's your full name?"

"Oh, Angelo Espinosa. I come from L.A."

"So, what's it like around here?"

"It's quiet, except when there is a problem. We usually have problems that happen once a week here."

"Hey, it quieter than my home town. It was turning into the big city in leaps. I just had to get away."

"Well, it may seem you might be leaving one bad place for another." Angelo pulled out a cigarette and lit it up.

"What make you say that, other than your impersonation of a smoke stack?"

Angelo stopped in his tracks and turned. Rich had a huge grin on his face, not showing any teeth though. "I take it you have been taking lessons on smart remarks."

"Yes, I use the classics as well as making up new material."

"Well as I was saying before, you might see some troubles here. I think Monet is going to tell you about them, but we have encountered many strange things."

Rich let a smile cross his face, revealing a reason why he kept a bit of a frown. His teeth appeared to be crooked. "I like the sound of that," he said with a slight accent.

"What happened with your teeth, Rich?"

"That's the way they came in. I know it looks strange. That is the reason that I don't smile too often."

They continued on and Angelo pointed out every place on the campus. Rich listen to everything and they eventually entered the main building. Angelo had lead Rich to the computer room where Monet was waiting. It was time for Rich to get the run down on the computer setup. Angelo had left to smoke another cigarette.

Monet watched as Angelo left. She still felt a little upset when she found out that Angelo had seen her diary. She waited until he was gone and turned to Rich. "Hello, Richard. My name is Monet St. Croix, and I would like to personally welcome you to the school."

Rich bowed and said, "My pleasure to meet you. The way you act, you seen to come from a family of wealthy status. I hope I haven't jumped to any wrong conclusions."

"You seemed to be a nice person. Well, I have the duty of showing you the computer, as well as some of the files."

"Let me guess, Mr. Cassidy, or should I call him Sean, is worried about how I acted at the airport, and has drafted you to find out."

"I guess the secrets out."

"The truth can surface in ugly ways, Monet." She knew how true that was, but she didn't want to say anything to Rich about her brother until he saw the file.

"Well," she stepped over to the computer system, "this is our version of the Cerebro computer and the main school. It has a file on every mutant, and a copy of every enemy that Generation X has ever faced."

"Let me guess, so I know who to avoid."

"In a way, let me get a picture of the first one." She punched up the file of the X- Cutioner. A figure appeared in front of Rich and he just looked at it.

"Let's see, he must have a Grim Reaper fixation."

"In the worse way, The X-Cutioner is fixated on the termination of mutants. He wanted to destroy any mutant that he thought had committed a crime. Angelo told us that he went after him."

"Does he have any mutant abilities?"

"No." She notice that Rich made a motion as if he was thankful that this guy wasn't a mutant. "Let me show you the next enemy." She accessed the file on Omega Red. It could be a major problem if he turned in to him could be dangerous.

"He looks like one unhappy camper. Did he get in the extra ugly line when God handed out looks."

"No. Science made him that way. He has the mutant ability to create a death spore."

"Yeesh. I hope I never meet him."

"Actually, only Jonothan was able to defeat him. Jonothan can't die, as far as we know." Rich looked at the image as if he was wondering about what to do in case Omega Red did get near. "I think I should show you the file on one of our main problems." She brought up the file on her brother, Emplate. She knew that she could give them more information than what they had on Emplate, but, she still felt awkward about that knowledge. The image had came up and Rich screamed. She turned and saw him huddling in a corner, his face in his hands. "Did you see that in Penance's memories, the image of Emplate?"

He spoke in a shaky voice. "The hands. That is what Penance feared. He had seen me. I pray he didn't follow me. By the grace of God, may he not find me."

"Oh, dear. I'm going to get Sean. I think he might want to hear this." She left the room and ran to Sean's office.

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When Monet told him that she discovered the reason for Rich's alarm, Sean was glad that they found the cause. He was not to happy with the state that Rich was in now. He followed Monet back to the computer room to see the one thing he hoped it wouldn't be. He saw Rich in the corner of the room, scared to move. What was in the center of the room was an image of Emplate. "Rich, are ye okay, lad?"

Rich was still curled in the corner and only muttered, "The hands. The hands."

He looked at the image of Emplate and then realized that must have tipped Rich off to Emplate's presence. He hadn't seen Emplate, maybe because he was not in synch with the dimension which they lived in. Maybe that couldn't be hidden from Rich. "Do you want to explain it, Rich?"

Rich's voice still shook in fear as he began, "When I left the plane and started in your direction, I had to shift the weight of my bags. When I did that, I notice holes were forming on my hands. I must have gotten close to him, but I couldn't see him. He could have attacked me without me realizing he was there. At least, he didn't approach me. But I fear he knows, I can't help but fear that he knows."

He turned to Monet and said, "I think you better talk to him about this, lass. You know more about Emplate than any of us, except maybe for Penance."

"Yes, sir." she said. Sean then turned off the file on Emplate and left the room. He figured that he should talk to Emma about this.

Rich glanced up and noticed the image had disappeared. He watch Sean leave the room and Monet was standing with a worried look on her face. He started to stand, a bit leery about what he had seen when Monet said, "I guess I should tell you about Emplate."

He wondered what in the world she knew about this monster. "What do you know about it?"

"Emplate, I am sad to say, is my brother."

He almost returned to the huddled state that he was in before. "He is your brother. My god, are you anything like him?"

"No. He hates me to the core. One reason for that is that he cannot sup on me."

"Sup?"

"He eats mutant genetic marrow. He would do the same to you, unless he can turn you into one like him."

"You mean to say, that he is a mutant vampire, and that you are immune to this creature?"

"Yes, when he revealed the relation between us, relations between the individual members and myself became tougher."

"I guess that could be a problem, to find out one of the team is related to a murderous mutant who wouldn't give a second thought to killing all of us." He could help but to keep more of a distance from Monet now, but he felt sorry for her. All because of Emplate, some members were shunning her. He started to wonder if Penance shunned her as well. "Monet, how much about Emplate do you figure Penance knows?"

She almost stopped with that thought. She gave an appearance that she was almost deep in thought when she said, "She could probably give you a personal account on what it is like to be a prisoner of Emplate. It is unknown how long she was in my brother's grip."

"I hope she doesn't mind me asking about it. I mean, after what I saw, I think I need the advice of someone who survived being his victim."

"Everett could also tell you something about that. A while back, my brother possessed him."

"I wonder who took that the hardest. Everett, or Jubilee."

"What do you mean?"

"I got a bit close to Jubilee earlier. I found out that she likes Everett."

"Well, that is almost no secret, but you picked up on that before you were even told."

Rich felt a bit awkward about that. That was one aspect of his powers that made him feel like he was losing control. It also made him feel like a voyeur. He then said to Monet, "I guess I should see the next item on the tour."

“That would be the med center.” He turned to see a guy, about his age, wrapped in black straps. He wondered about this.

"And you are?"

“Jonothan Evans Starsmore.”

"Oh, you are the one you defeated Omega Red? I must commend you. To defeat something like that, I must shake your hand." He started to walk over to Jonothan when all of a sudden, his mutant ability started to kick in. He felt a slight pain.

“Gov, I wouldn't suggest that…” An explosion knocked him away form Jono. He heard Monet yelling, but his ears were ringing from the explosion. He looked down and saw a flare of red right about where his chest had been. His clothing had still been in shape, but it appeared his skin and all was gone.

"What the hell happened in..." He heard Sean yell and as the Irish man saw him on the floor. "Let me guess, you got close to Jonothan, right?"

“I was going to congratulate him on his defeat of that Omega Red fellow. When I heard about it, I felt it was only right to congratulate him. This is odd though.” He then watched as his chest started to reform.

“I guess that is what will happen when ever you get close to a mutant and don't know their abilities.” Jono remarked. Rich gave him a look. This must have happened when Jono's ability first manifested.

Rich waited until his mouth had returned and said, "I think from now on, I should be informed upon everyone’s abilities. If anything like this is the norm, I would like to be informed."

"Agreed, lad." Sean said with an approving look. "Of those you have meet, Jono is psi- mutant. As you guessed with me, I have a sonic scream. Jubilee has the ability to produce explosive plasmoids. Angelo has the ability to control and extra six feet of skin that he has. Monet has super-strength, flight, night-vision and..."

Monet spoke up, "In other words, I'm perfect."

Rich turned to Monet and said, "Great, you don't exist. I hate figments of my imaginations."

Monet looked at him sternly and said, "What do you mean?"

"Monet, one of my hobbies is writing computer programs. In learning how to write them, I learned that nothing is perfect. Perfection is an illusion. If you were perfect, you would have to hide secrets."

Monet opened up her mouth and immediately stopped. She almost went into a talk and then said, "Mon Deiu, you're right."

Rich then turned to Jono and said, "Jono, I think you better show me the medical center again, just in case of another incident or I have a seizure."

“Agreed.”

Here is Chapter 3 @impurestcheese