The Cale Storyline Story 1 Chapter 6

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 6: Unwelcome Intrusions (Updated Version)

He was running. Rich had a feeling he was being followed by someone. The school had been wrecked. Yvette wasn't in the Biosphere and everyone was missing. He ran in partial terror and fear. He couldn't find anyone. He turned down one hall and ran into a dead end. There was no one down here and he turned to back track. It was then he realized he was trapped. Standing at the junction he just left was Emplate. He heard the evil in the being's voice. "Mr. Cale, I have been waiting to meet you. Your own ability would be very valuable to me, and the defeat of these morsels." Emplate started to advance.

The fear was flowing through his veins. He was afraid, but he could not let it show. "I won't let you make me into a creature like you." Rich knew that his only hope was to find a way to get past Emplate, but he couldn't find any way other than to rush him. He was trapped. The only other way out was the unthinkable.

"You cannot avoid your destiny, Mr. Cale. You will be one of my group, be it your own doing, or totally unwilling. There is no need to hide your fear, I know that one more step gives me a new servant." Emplate made that step and Rich felt the pain. He collapse on the floor in a fit. His struggle turned to an internal struggle as Emplate's personality started conflicting with his own. He couldn't fight it and slowly accepted the fate. A part of him hated giving up as Emplate took over. Then he had trouble breathing. He couldn't breathe. As he labored for his next breath, it all ended.

Rich jumped up and looked around. He was in his room. He looked at the clock and saw it was 4 AM. Only when he had disturbing sleeps, did he wake like that before. This dream, disturbed him so. His deepest fear was that it was an image of things to come. A future he did not want. Rich got out of bed, got dressed and looked through his bag. It was almost midnight when he got in. He spent most of the time before that teaching Penance. It would be a couple more days until she could say some words, but she started to understand some key words in English. He found a special flute he purchased a long time ago. He figured that he should head over to the main building, eat an early breakfast and maybe ease his worries with some soft music.

Monet looked around. She was scared, not because that Emplate was attacking the school. What scared her was that Rich had gone missing. She feared that her brother might have found Rich in his neutral state. If that was the case, she figured that Emplate would manipulate Rich into hurting everybody. She continued searching the campus when Penance jumped in front of her. She almost smiled when she saw Penance, at least until she noticed Penance hands. She saw that she was one of Emplate's slave now. She started to back away from Penance. She knew that Penance would now kill her. She moved backwards faster and faster until she backed into something. She turned, only to be knocked off her feet. She turned to see Rich standing there, with an grin on his face. "Rich, did you knock me down thinking I was Emplate. I hope you're Ok."

He eyed her with a look of what appeared to be hunger. She realized what was happening when he reached out to grab her. His hands had the mouths that her brother's had. Emplate must be controlling him. She tried to attack, but he grabbed her so quickly that she was surprised. He finally spoke as she tried to break the death grip on her, with no hope of doing so. "You are probably thinking, who is in control. Rich, or Emplate. Well Monet, this should answer your question." All of a sudden, she felt a pain in each arm. She felt the stabbing continue as if she was losing a part of herself. All of sudden, she felt as if she were dying. Her immunity to Emplate wasn't working. Rich must have been in control of his thoughts, even though, he had her brother's abilities. She felt as she was about to die when she shut her eyes and screamed.

She awoke in her own bed. She sat up and looked around. Everyone thought that Rich was a terrific person. She had just seen a possibility that Rich would be more dangerous that anyone imagined. She got up, and got dressed. She looked at the clock, it read 4:30 AM. She decided that she would quietly head over to the main building and read. She was dreading meeting with Rich later today. He could learn some things about her, that she never told anyone.

She moved quietly to the main building and entered it. She heard music, or more specifically, a flute. She followed the sound, until she entered the kitchen. She looked in the door and didn't see anyone. She figured that someone broke in and was hiding. She slowly advanced and said, "Ok, whoever you are. I not afraid to hurt you, so give up." The flute stopped and she turned to see someone sitting at the table. She jumped in fright when she saw who it was.

"It's just me, Rich. I woke up with a terrible nightmare. I take it that the same happened to you." His voice was almost calm. He almost returned to playing his odd flute when he stopped and looked back at her. "Do you mind talking about it?"

Monet hesitated in answering. How could she talk to him about her nightmare. He was at the very base of it. She then said, "I don't think you would like to here about my nightmare. It might not be the best thing for you to hear."

He looked at her almost knowingly. "It was about me. Your reaction gave it away. I wonder if our nightmares are linked in some way. My nightmare's feature player was your brother. Now could we talk about these nightmares, or do I have to find out about it later. I hate learning stuff using my ability."

Monet was almost amazed at how quick he read her actions. She finally when to a seat a little ways from him. "Okay, Rich, let's talk about our nightmares. You tell me what your was about."

He placed the odd flute down and looked at her. "Monet, I dreamed that something terrible happened to the school. I looked for everybody. I knew someone was following me, but when I made a wrong turn, I was trapped by your brother. He forced his ability onto me. I woke up just as I transformed into him."

She gasped and then said, "Rich, that was similar to my dream, except that you had control of your mutant abilities. You had his abilities and attacked me. You were.. supping on me. My immunity didn't kick in. I figured something was wrong, when Penance was the same."

Rich's eyes went wide. She could tell that he was in love with Penance as he shook in anger. "No, I won't let him get control of her."

"Rich, I wonder if you were controlling her."

"How could you say such a thing, that I would do such a thing to her."

"If Emplate had controlled you at the time, it is possible. I just hope that this doesn't happen in real life."

Rich picked up the flute. He seemed a bit upset, by the way his hand shook. He seemed to almost be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He looked at Monet and said, "I couldn't live with myself if I hurt Penance. I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to hurt anyone, unless I have to."

She wanted to comfort him, but she couldn't try to get near him. She noticed the flute again and decided to ask. "Rich, do you play music?" He looked like he almost forgot about the flute and then nodded. "Why don't you play a little bit of music on that flute. It is a flute, isn't it?"

He looked at it and said, "Yes, I had specially purchased. I have become quite a master at this instrument, as well as the violin." He put the flute to lips and started to play a tune. Monet recognized the piece as "In The Hall Of The Mountain King." She listened and clapped when he finished the peace. Rich then said, "It amazing to learn tunes by ear." He then played an excerpt from Swan Lake. He was playing it perfectly until he hit a sour note. He was startled by the sound of someone running. Monet turned to see Paige run in, to get a water bottle for her morning jog.

"Good morning, all. Ah'm surprised to see that you are up so early Rich." Paige probably wasn't aware why Rich was up so early. It was obviously apparent that Paige was surprise by Rich's habits. It must have been obvious that Rich was not an early morning riser.

"Normally, Paige, I am in bed until around 7:30. This is an unusual case. I have only woken up this early about twice in my life. I would rather not mention it now." Monet wondered if Rich decided not to mention something about the nightmare he had. He then bowed to her and left the room.

"He does seem to be an odd one, doesn't he?" Paige asked.

"Yes, Paige. He can communicate with Penance. From what I can figure, he can detect Emplate before we would even know it. He seems to be a very unique mutant. Paige, do you think that he could be a bit of a problem, with his mutant ability?"

"I don't think he wants to be. I mean, he could be, but his own mind would allow it?"

Paige had made a good point. Monet decided to think about it for a while. She kept thinking about until the next voice she heard was Jubilee's.

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Sean was not surprised at all, but his big question was what caused her to space out this time. "Okay, what got her spaced out this time."

Paige, who had just gotten in from her morning jog, said, "She spaced out when we were talking about Rich. When I said something about him not hurting people, she just spaced out."

Jubilee, who had just walked in said, "Do you want me to get Rich? I saw him over in the lounge, play a weird flute."

Sean thought it over and might be good to get Rich over here. Rich might have some insight to what lead to Monet's recent spell. "Ye better go get the lad, Jubilee. If worse comes to worse, we might need Rich to pull her out."

Jubilee quickly left the room and then returned with Rich walking in after her. He had a calm look on his face, yet it was a look of little sleep. Rich looked straight and Sean and said, "What's up?"

Sean signed and said, "Rich, do you have any idea why Monet went into one of her spells?"

Rich looked and Monet and asked, "Is she cataleptic?"

"No, lad, she is autistic. Apparently, she started thinking about something, and since you talked to her before, and she asked about you, I can only assume that you might have an insight."

Rich let a look of regret cross his face, as if he knew something was going to happen. He then said, "Maybe I shouldn't mentioned my nightmare to her. I hate it when my mind does things like this. I wish I had a better idea why it happens." Rich started pacing.

"Well what was this nightmare about, Richard." Sean turned to see Emma standing at the door to the kitchen. "I think you would want to consult me about it."

"Ms. Frost," Rich said almost calmly, "I would not like to subject anybody to my nightmares. I might have made a mistake telling Monet. If it would be Ok with everybody, I like to get on with today, I think......" His words trailed off and Sean looked at Emma. Her eyes had a glow in them that signal the use of her telepathic abilities. He collapsed on the floor as the glow disappeared from her eyes.

"Ms. Frost," Jubilee yelled, "how could you do that? Maybe there was a reason he didn't want to say anything."

Sean was almost ready to talk when he saw a look on Emma face. "Emma, I take it you are regretting what you did?"

"Sean, he believes his nightmares are signals of the future. He's afraid his nightmare will come true, and since it is concealed in his mind very deeply, I hope it doesn't. It must be something he is greatly afraid of."

It was then Sean noticed that Monet had snapped out, for she had let out a gasp of surprise. "That's why he was afraid." She then looked down to the floor and saw Rich lying there. "Did Ms. Frost scan his mind?"

Sean spoke up, "Aye, she did that, lass. Now Monet, can ye tell us what Rich said about his nightmare." He hoped that Monet would say something about this instead of lapsing into one of her autistic spells.

Just as Monet was about to say something, Rich finally was gathering his wits about him. He abruptly shouted, "Monet, say one word and I will make our little talk earlier common knowledge. He started to get up and looked at Emma. It was obvious that he was not happy with her. "Ms. Frost, if I wanted everyone to know about those dreams that I occasionally have, I would have said something. Trust is an item I usually give to people. If you want to know about me, Ms. Frost, you must prove yourself worthy of my trust. So far, only one person here has earned that, and I take it that most of you have figured out who that is." He turned and went to leave the room. Sean probably could guess where he was going to go. He decided that their was only one way to calm Rich down.

"Everybody, could you please leave. I think the lad needs some time to be alone." He noticed that Rich stopped and turned. Sean looked at Rich, there was a look of knowledge on his face. Sean had a feeling that Rich knew what was going to happen. Sean gave a look at everyone and they all left the room. Emma stayed behind, a little shook up from what she had learned.

Rich still have a look of anger on his face and said, "If you want to talk, Mr. Cassidy, I will, but I would like an apology from Ms. Frost before I speak." It was obvious that Rich was angry, and he was going to live up to his heritage. British people could be stubborn, and Rich was definitely going to let that be true.

Emma had just gotten her wits together and said, "I'm sorry, Richard. I had thought that it would be best to see if you did know about what had caused Monet's spell. When you mentioned your nightmare, I thought I could understand better. It appears you have locked all those fears up. You only let those tales out when you want to tell them. I couldn't even get into them. Could you tell us what you fear will happen?"

Sean couldn't believe it, Emma Frost had been humbled. He also had to agree with Emma. This had shaken Rich up. The last time Rich was shaken up was when he saw the image of Emplate. "Lad, I know you told Monet, but why? And could you tell us? If you are going to be here as a student, you must trust us."

Rich sat down at the table and said, "I will say this, Monet and I both had nightmares. I do not want to say what it was about. If you want me to say anything, just ask her if it is alright first. Just let me calm down, I don't want anybody to worry more than they have to."

Sean turned to Emma and said, "Emma, I going to talk to Monet for a moment. Can you keep an eye on Rich for a moment." He noticed that Rich had started to play his flute. Emma had nodded and Sean went to talk to Monet. He found her and said, "Monet, I need to ask you something."

Monet turned from the window and said, "Is it about the nightmare Rich had?"

"That it is, lass. He doesn't want to tell us about the nightmare unless he has your consent." Sean had hopped that she would respond. He watched as Monet nodded, but it was apparent that she was upset about it."

He turned to head back to the kitchen when Monet said, "I would like to be there, with you, when he talks about his nightmare."

"Alright." The two of them walked back to the kitchen. Sean still heard the flute and when they entered the kitchen he said to Rich, "Ok, lad. Monet said it was alright to tell us."

Sean noticed then that he had opened a Pandora's Box when Rich put down his flute. "Brace yourselves, because her comes the hurricane." He started retelling the two nightmares and Sean realized that Rich had a good reason to fear his nightmares, if they were predictions of things to come.

He had just finished his tale of what the nightmares had been. Monet had shuddered after hearing both nightmares, because of the fact that they might come true. They all had a look of shell shock on their faces. "Do you all understand why I didn't want everyone to here this."

Sean Cassidy spoke up first. "It took some bravery on your part to tell us about this. I know that some people have difficulty telling there secrets and fears. I hope that that bravery rubs off on some of the other." He gave a look at Monet and she had a humbled look on her face.

"I guess no matter what, the truth will always be revealed. It makes me wonder how overwhelmed we will be when all the truths that Monet holds in her head, come rushing out." Monet had a bit of a scared look on her face when he said that. Rich knew that he wasn't on her favorites list, but it was obvious that she tolerated him. He figured it would be best to change the subject. "Mr. Cassidy, could you tell me what's on the schedule for me today?"

Sean must have noticed how uncomfortable Rich had been with formality. "Rich, it be alright with me if ye call me Sean. Now, I plan to have you meet with all the students today, excluding the wee lads, and Emma and myself. I going to give you the option of how you want to go thought the line-up."

Rich felt a little confused by this. "I am a little confused by what you said. Now what do you mean?"

"Well, I was thinking that you could meet everybody again, by codename, such as mine is Banshee, and Emma's is White Queen, or by last name."

"Who would be first if it was by codename?"

"That would be Jono."

"Considering what happened last time, I think it would be best if we went be last name."

"Alright, that means you'll be with Angelo Espinosa first."

"Let me see, he's the one with the extendable skin. I hope I don't get the craving for a cigarette." He thought about it for a while. Rich wondered if he made the wrong choice by making his choice that way. "I wonder if I made a mistake," he muttered under his breath.

Sean left the room. He was again alone in the room with Emma Frost. This was one person he would have a hard time trusting. He kept an eye on her at all times. He didn't want her invading his mind again. As he was waiting for Sean to come back with Angelo, Emma Frost broke the silence. "Richard, judging by the way you are watching me, I take it you don't trust me."

He couldn't hide the venom in his voice. "Really, how would you like it if I decided to take a trip into your mind and learn your deepest darkest secrets, with you knowing it. It like breaking into you house while you are there. That's what it feels like. I could compare it to something worse, but I think you get the picture."

"I'm sorry about what I did, but you have to understand that I was doing it to find out what happened to Monet. You have to admit that I had a good reason."

"If I didn't want to say anything, you could have respected my wishes. Under different circumstances, your little intrusion can be excused, but not then."

"Alright. Just remember that if you are not in control of what you are doing, I will try to stop you, using my abilities."

Rich thought about it. It might be a good idea to have her around, incase someone like Emplate attacked and controlled him. "I think I understand what you mean, but if you want information about me, just ask me." She nodded and Sean walked in with Angelo following him.

"Well Rich, I was thinking that you can use your abilities and train in the Biosphere." Rich nodded and decided it was time he learned about Angelo and his abilities.

Hey @impurestcheese Feel free to give the other chapters a bump.

@richgenx: Hmm nice chapter, lots of filler too.

Tis good to see you back in the saddle