Alternate Universe: The Runaways

[Elizabeth Stone]

Effy tried one of the other doors off the courtyard, finding it locked. She put a finger to pursed lips, her eyes sparkling. She turned and strode back to the edge of the pool, where Rich was swimming, and crouched down to his eye level.

“Hey, how about we try out that skeleton key of yours on some of these other doors? Let Jack see where Morgan Victoria slept.”

She smiled, turning and bounding half way across the courtyard before looking back expectantly and raising her eyebrows. Confusion washed over her face for a moment as she heard then saw movement near the gate. Had the vodka addled Brenda’s brain so much that she had missed a neighbor calling the cops? No matter. What were they going to do? Arrest her? She scoffed at the thought, but then her eyes got wide as three huge creatures ripped off the gate and entered the courtyard. She screamed.

In a split-second, one of the creatures was right in her face. She processed that the other two had gone after those in the pool, but she couldn’t help them with this fucker snapping at her. She raised her hands, using her TK to pick the thing up and smash it against the cement wall of the building. She pointed at the wall on one side of the courtyard, then the other, the Ant Lion like a tennis ball as she smashed it repeatedly. She kept going – she wasn’t going to stop until it wasn’t going to move when she did.

Breathing heavily, and satisfied that the thing was dead, she let it slide to the ground, then turned to see what the others were doing with the other two creatures.

 

[Brenthon]

MP: Courtyard

Everything happened so fast. A jovial moment turned brutally violent as Jackson was the first to see the giant demon spiders crush the gate of Melrose as if it were made of tin foil. He tried to warn Effy but before he could he was forced under the water by the weight of a giant sticky web of an unknown consistency. He wasn't really directly effected by the web. He could feel it was sticky and he could feel somewhat of a drain in his physical strength, but his skin was preventing him from feeling the full effects as hard as say Olivia or Rich or Brenda would.

"Focus Jackson. Focus."

He was underwater and he didn't have the time to try and help Richard, Brenda and Olivia. He would have to save himself and figure out the rest later. He swam to the side of the pool and pushed himself up, rising to the surface of the pool, covered in the sticky and wet web of the Ant Lions as they faced him and began swiping him with their clawed legs, which had no effect on the mutant. They simply made almost a metal hitting metal sound as they attempted to break through him.

Trying to think quick on his feet he charged one of the spiders as he landed atop their head, it's many eyes twitching and trying to get a good look at him. He glased his hands together in a fist as he pounded his hands down onto the top of the Ant Lion's head, effectively bashing it in. He didn't stop until he could see some kind of brain or organ that was hiding underneath it's skill. As the Ant Lion fell to the ground, limp, he looked up at Effy, trying to remove the webbing from his body.

"Effy! That thing.. It's NOT DEAD!!!!"

He jumped at her, jumping in front of her as a giant leg crashed against his back. He was cradling Effy in a hug as the claw clanged off against his skin and they were forced back, sliding on their feet.

"What the hell are these things?! Can you even get a read on them? Weaknesses? Anything?"

Jackson landed a strong uppercut to the Ant Lion who had retaliated which sent it flying into the air, crashing into the wall and window of apartment #8. It was silent for a moment, but slowly and surely it began to twitch, a sign that it was most definitely not dead. He looked at her.

"We've got to get them out of the pool. You take the one upstairs, i'll try and buy Rich, Brenda and Olivia some time to get out."

He picked up a large piece of the iron gate that was now in a spear like formation and handed it to Effy.

"I'm sure you have some sarcastic comment for me, but save it. I'm a bleeding heart alright?"

Turning his back to Effy he faced the spider who was still thrashing rapidly into the pool, trying his hardest to rip apart the three that remained into the pool as he jumped onto the spider's back, trying to choke the spider with his hands, though he wasn't sure exactly where the neck, if it had one at all, was. Hopefully this would distract the spider long enough to allow the others time to get out of the damn pool before they drowned.

 

[Matrix]

Rich continued to swim, enjoying the feeling of life, of freedom from this fear. He surfaced as Effy made a proposition.

“Hey, how about we try out that skeleton key of yours on some of these other doors? Let Jack see where Morgan Victoria slept.”

Sure, just a moment.

Rich dove deep again and was about to surface when a shadow loomed, spraying some goo on the water. He didn't know WHAT that was but he knew it wasn't good, and so he turned into water itself, melding with the pool water and taking a moment to observe what was happening.

It was the goddamndest thing he'd ever saw, some spider on SUPER 'roids, and he knew that they needed to get out of that water fast.

He turned into sand, slicing and cutting his way through the goop with no adverse effects and grinding it away from the surface before misting into a sandstorm, working his way into the crevices of one of the ant lions. The beast shuddered, then roared as it blew open, revealing a reforming form that became a gleaming Richard in Osmium Steel form as he landed heavily to the ground. As he strode towards it, he spoke to the other ant lion as if it were someone sitting beside him, his voice flat.

You picked the wrong motherfucker...

 

[Brenda Castle]

Effy felt weird about being so comfortable with everyone here and using her powers, and Brenda felt the urge to tell Effy that she didn't need to rebuke herself for making friends with the only people she could be herself with, but she didn't say it, for two reasons; one, it was Effy's business and talking about it out loud would probably embarrass the shit out of her, and two, the conversation had already moved on to other things. Sometimes Brenda had to remind herself to be present for the things people were SAYING, and not JUST what they were thinking. It was difficult, because what they were thinking was ever present, while what they were saying was usually 90% misdirection, as it was here. Jackson was admitting the cool-factor of Delilah being friends with someone famous, but he was really contemplating the cool-factor of having friends you could be REAL with. Olivia was slipping into more introspection than she let on. Brenda lounged on the steps of the pool, leaning her shoulders against the rim of the pool and monopolizing the vodka. Effy got out for a smoke and wandered around for a bit.

Just as they were all getting comfortable and having a tiny amount of careless teenage fun, things came crashing down around them. Effy mentally accused Brenda of being too sauced to pay attention to the neighbors, but Brenda looked WAY horrified, and NOT at the idea of being arrested.

"That is NOT the POLICE!!"

Something was SMASHING its way through the front gate. WTF?? A GIANT MOTHERFUCKING SPIDER, THAT'S THE FUCK WHAT! Four different people's shock and panic bombarded Brenda's mind, but an adrenalin rush kicked her up about ten notches. She IGNORED panic and subliminally urged them ALL to remain calm and use their powers to KICK SOME ASS, as Brenda herself leapt halfway out of the pool, balancing her hips on the ledge as she grabbed for Effy's bag, tipping over the little poolside table it was on and knocking her pack of cigarettes and lighter to the concrete. She tossed the bottle at an oncoming beast, quickly flicking on Effy's zippo and tossing it, setting one of the beasts completely on fire nanoseconds before the sticky web came down on her. It painfully sapped her strength, and she HAD to get out of it, clawing and scrambling the rest of the way out of the pool. The monster she'd set on fire was now writhing and twitching creepily, but STILL ATTACKING while on FIRE. Effy was turning the one that had attacked HER into putty, and that left just the one that was trying to skewer itself a teen in the pool. Brenda crawled and clattered amongst the pool furniture, trying to find cover while she helped the ones trapped in the pool to subconsciously overcome their SHOCK and move into aggression. Rich was a cool customer, already destroying the previously burned spider and getting ready for the next one. Jack was surprisingly EASY to urge into focus, and he got out of the pool and helped Effy before turning back and mentioning helping Brenda, Rich and Olivia.

Relieved that the boys seemed to have things covered as they turned onto the final spider, Brenda slumped back against a Queen Palm, feeling scraped, bruised and exhausted from her escape. She suddenly noticed that someone was paying them VERY close attention, and her gaze snapped towards the shadows that the thoughts were emanating from. She couldn't SEE anyone in there, it was far too dark and for some reason, whoever was there was trying VERY hard, and succeeding, in keeping her identity and her alliances out of Brenda's head.

 

[Longshot]

Meanwhile...

From the plasma screens, Finn watched as the group of teenages slowly but surely began to dispatch the Ant Lions, even managing to impress him in the process. They were everything he needed and more, with their powers alone at the very least the research team could do wonders.

Pressing a button, the plasma screens faded to black as Finn turned off the lights and left the control room, walking down the halls of MysTech and making his way into his office where he poured himself a nice glass of scotch before retiring to his oversized leather rolling chair. In front of him was a stack of papers, all explaining the details of "Project Christmas" a project he took the helm of almost 20 years ago, back when he was a hotshot field agent. He thought it would be a nice change of pace, he thought that there was nothing he wouldn't be able to widthstand.

Project Christmas was something MysTech had been developing long before Finn took over the project in an effort to preserve the viability of the organization and it's efforts. The ones who had started MysTech with blood on their hands weren't going to be around forever. They needed fresh blood, people they could train and manipulate from day one. That's when they began looking in on children. MysTech had many different layers, many different cells on top of cells, it's reach was far and wide, and Project Christmas was no different. He remembered sitting across from people like Adam Chandler and Christopher Victory as they explained the process. They told him the best agents in the world had certain traits: proficiency with numbers, three dimensional thinking, creative problem solving. These abilities were evident in children as early as five years old.

Back when the Project wasn't consider a total bust, MysTech had struck a deal with the government, well.. people within the government. A series of questions were to be embedded into standardized testing administered to almost every child in the United States. Those who scored highed on those questions were watched and groomed, and those who were mutants were given special attention, even attending fake "Summer Camps" where they were taught underhandedly the way of espionage, the way of becoming the perfect killing machine. Not many showed potential and the ones that did had a way of ending up dead or test subjects for the future projects of MysTech.

But developments over the last 10 years thanks in large part to people like Alycia Barnett had halted MysTech's hands in the government. They were at a stand still and the organization was facing the looming threat of the Six who were beginning to PICK off the people who controlled MysTech one by one. But now, they were dead and Delilah had an organization that would allow him to cherry pick canidates one by one and either use them or lose them.

Though Finn may not have agreed with the work he was doing, he really didn't have a choice? He could leave and be exterminated or he could stay and do a job that he signed on to do. He had learned a long time ago that morality served him no purpose in this life, and he found himself doing inconceivable things in the interest of a company that could very potentially end the world as everyone knew it. Finn had mortgaged his soul and this was the price he would have to pay.

He took a long drink of scotch, rightly finishing it off before pouring himself another glass, waiting.

"Come on, I know you got my message."

Finn needed help, he HAD to get these kids. If he didn't, he was sure he would have suffered a fate much WORSE than death. He had many contacts within the company but he needed someone who wasn't bogged down by the protocols and regulations, and somebody who actually might... "love" him enough to help him out. So he had contacted her. It wasn't easy, but he was one of the very select few she would give an audience if needed, and he did need it. The window blinds left a dark silohuette across his face as he sat there in silence.

"Where are you Shade?"

 

[Ana-Leigh Moreau]

Laying on the pool deck, Olivia rolled her head over to the side, looking toward the tunneled walkway that lead to the front gates. An obnoxious clicking caught her attention and she immediately came to the conclusion that their poolside fun was about to be put to a stop by the police.

Brenda: "That is NOT the POLICE!!"

Olivia's eyes widdened as she quickly rose from the deck. Brenda's panicked voice freaked her out and caused her to scuffle up to her feet. Then...

"SPIDERS?!"

Shrieking out in horror and disgust, Livvie scrambled back away from the pool just as the spider unleashed a silk web onto the pool, hitting herself and Brenda. Immediately her body felt weak. Collapsing to the pool deck, her arms and legs felt like they weighed a hundred tons, and her mind was fuzzy and dizzy-like. Brenda was nearby in the same state, but before she was hit by the web, she managed to light a spider on fire. But like all freakishly abnormal spiders, this thing didn't die. Luckily, Rich was able to finish it off. Jackson pummeled one of the spiders to death, while Effy through one via TK into one of the vacant apartments. Though down, it was not out.

In that moment, she could feel her mind suddenly focus and become more alert. This had to be Brenda's doing. As the spider jumped out of the broken bay windows of the apartment, Olivia lifted her hand toward the creature. It leapt in the air again, heading straight for Effy and Jackson. Sending a massive electrical bolt straight at the spider, it instantly EXPLODED once the bolt hit; goop and spidery remains now decorated the courtyard.

Slumped up next to a lawn chair, her display of power drained what energy she had left completely. Pulling some of the spider web off her body, the more she removed, the better she felt.

"This...is...fucking...disgusting."

She said winded from lack of energy. Looking up at the others, Olivia could hear sirens in the distance, closing in. Obviously the explosions, screaming, and loud noises had caused someone to call the cops.

"Not to state the obvious....[slowly climbing to her feet] But we need to get the hell out of here and quick."

 

[Shade]

arrival

"Where are you Shade?"

a portal of shadow opens on the floor and a feminine form rises up. the portal closes.

"BEHIND you."

she spoke with a sinister, airy tone, as he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and heard an odd sound in the air .

"Now what do you want?"

the woman stood tall, with a cold aura that extended all around. where ever there was shadow, the cold would be felt.

 

[Elizabeth Stone]

Jack had tackled one of the other ant lions and bashed its brain in. He then jumped between her and the one they had thought was dead.

"What the hell are these things?! Can you even get a read on them? Weaknesses? Anything?"

She had already scanned the creatures’ DNA. She called out so they all could hear.

“They’re venomous – don’t let them bite you!” Everyone already knew about the gooey web shit.

Jack handed her a piece of the gate, like a spear. She looked down at it in her hand. Then to his face.

“Are you serious?”

"I'm sure you have some sarcastic comment for me, but save it. I'm a bleeding heart alright?"

Effy made a face. “What the hell does that even mean?”

Behind her, another one was on fire, which Rich then literally blew apart. Effy was liking having this kid around more and more. He could do some cool shit.

She ran halfway up the stairs in pursuit of her ant lion, the iron bar still in her hand. She tossed it in the air, then motioned it forward. It flew true, and skewered the beast, pinning it to the upstairs wall.

The last one was quickly and efficiently electrocuted by Livvie. Effy changed her mind, she wanted THAT power. There were a few skank bitches at her school she’d love to introduce to a light socket.

"Not to state the obvious....[slowly climbing to her feet] But we need to get the hell out of here and quick."

“Right away, mom.”

Effy collected her bag and what was left of its contents and her clothes, throwing the dress over her head as she walked.

“When you get outside, scatter. Remember, we meet back at the Foundation tomorrow.”

 

[Longshot]

Across Town..

Shade: BEHIND you.

Most people had warmth to their breath when they spoke, but not Shade. Her breath was as cold as the aura surrouding her. Her just as icy hand moved on his shoulder and as much as he wished he could be repulsed by her touch. He couldn't. Their history was a long and tumultuous one.

Shade: Now what do you want?

He removed her hand from his shoulder after a few moments and stood to face her, their eyes locking for a moment as he passed to the other side of the desk, taking yet another drink of his scotch. Maybe he had a problem. Maybe he didn't care.

"It's good to see you too."

Placing the glass down on his desk.

"So, you've seen them tonight. You've seen what their capable of. For adolescents they have startling potential. I want them, Selene.."

Finn paced back and forth around his office, a little nervous to see her again after such a long time and a little unsure of how big of a help she could be to him.

"You know how hard i've worked for this company.. You know i'm stuck. If I can get these five into the fold I might just be able to get out of MsyTech alive. I called you because you are one of the only people in our circles who might still actually give a shit about me. I've burned most of my bridges. Plus you have the finesse. These kids.. there's a human computer and a telepath, but neither of them have the capability to get around your magicks."

He motioned to some of the files on his desk.

"Take a closer look if you want at them. I need somebody who is good at getting people to trust her, and we both know, you're a professional at that. They already know about MysTech.. what I need from you is to get them with us. Lie to them, betray them, if you have to kill a few then fine, my bosses would be satisfied with just one..."

Finn picked his glass up once again, letting the liquid flow down his throat. He needed to stop drinking.

"You're a master at deception. The boys will join you for your looks alone. But we CAN'T have them know they will be working with MysTech, not until it's too late.. So what do you say.. will you do this? A last favor for an old man and old flame?"

 

[Shade]

past and present

He removed her hand from his shoulder after a few moments and stood to face her, their eyes locking for a moment as he passed to the other side of the desk, taking yet another drink of his scotch. Maybe he had a problem. Maybe he didn't care.

"It's good to see you too."

Placing the glass down on his desk.

"So, you've seen them tonight. You've seen what their capable of. For adolescents they have startling potential. I want them, Selene.."

Selene stood silent. She was not moved to respond just yet. He couldnt clearly see her face, she was more than partially enshrouded in shadow, but her cold blue eyes sparkled as they followed his every move. She viewed him the way a cat views her prey.

Finn paced back and forth around his office, a little nervous to see her again after such a long time and a little unsure of how big of a help she could be to him.

"You know how hard i've worked for this company.. You know i'm stuck. If I can get these five into the fold I might just be able to get out of MsyTech alive. I called you because you are one of the only people in our circles who might still actually give a shit about me. I've burned most of my bridges. Plus you have the finesse. These kids.. there's a human computer and a telepath, but neither of them have the capability to get around your magicks."

He motioned to some of the files on his desk.

Selene slowly reached forward, taking the 8X10 pics of the adolescents, slowly looking at one by one. TWO in particular stood out to her. not for Finn's sake, but for her OWN [ Brenda Castle and Richard Martin] and her reasons, her thoughts remained her own.

"Take a closer look if you want at them. I need somebody who is good at getting people to trust her, and we both know, you're a professional at that. They already know about MysTech.. what I need from you is to get them with us. Lie to them, betray them, if you have to kill a few then fine, my bosses would be satisfied with just one..."

Finn picked his glass up once again, letting the liquid flow down his throat. He needed to stop drinking.



"You're a master at deception. The boys will join you for your looks alone. But we CAN'T have them know they will be working with MysTech, not until it's too late.. So what do you say.. will you do this? A last favor for an old man and old flame?"

Setting the pictures down, Shade walked slowly, her silhouetted form moves slowly against the backdrop of the large, liquid crystal monitors.

"Gabriel...."

she said his FIRST name in a cold voice.

"What have you gotten yourself into. When will you learn?

moving toward him.

"I'm growing tired of being pulled back toward the machinations of Mystech. They should have stayed "dead" after their fall, and you...your foolish drive for power has once again placed you in a tough situation."

Now quite close to him.

" You should have accepted my offer to the Hellfire Club when I was on the Black Queen's court. We would have protected you from Mystech. Now your life depends on harvesting this mutant upstarts, most of whom will not survive if left to their own devices."

She leans in toward him, reaching out her hand as shadowy tendries extend from her form and flow around him and lightly touch his face and various areas of his body.

" I could kill you for wasting my time."

....

"But the reality is...you're one of the FEW in this world who accepted me, LOVED me as I am. you respected me, and despite what I think of you NOW, I can't forget that."

"I'll help you...if only to be RID of you. Don't be surprised though if my...appetite prevents me from delivering more than one..maybe TWO of these children."

moving away from Finn, she turns back to the monitors.

"It has been a while, and their auras are strong...all of them. I am not a pawn for mystech, i owe them nothing, they will get what I feel they deserve and YOU? when this is over...YOU better find a new hobby."

 

[Ana-Leigh Moreau]

Effy: “Right away, mom.”

"God, even in a crisis you're such a bitch."

Throwing her wet shirt on, Livvie went over to Brenda who was closest to her and leaning on a queen palm. Helping her to her feet, after confirming she was okay, Livvie jogged over to the side of the pool and grabbed her leggings and quickly slipped on her boots. The sirens were getting louder by the minute. Running to the pool chair that her purse was on, Livvie grabbed it and began to follow everyone to the Melrose Place enterence.

Effy: “When you get outside, scatter. Remember, we meet back at the Foundation tomorrow.”

[mocking Effy] "Yes mom."

Giving her a cutesy smile, Livvie pushed the gates open just as the police cars began to pull up. Sprinting to the left, she began to run like hell toward La Brea Ave, knowing Hollywood Blvd. was only a couple blocks away. She'd be able to loose the police easily in the mass of people there.

Hearing the police to yell stop, Olivia looked over her shoulder seeing a bunch of officers split up to try and catch the group. One was after her. Looking up at the street lights above her, within a 3 block radius, all the street lamps exploded; sending sparks raining down to the street. This would give the group some much needed cover as they ran. Olivia continued to run like hell, turning down La Brea and disappearing from sight.

 

[Longshot]

A reunion of sorts...

"Gabriel..."

He hadn't heard anybody call him by his first name in years, and that was just an estimate. Only those closest to him had the privelege of calling him Gabriel. She inched closer to him.

"What have you gotten yourself into. When will you learn?"

His mouth halfway parted into a smile.

Shade: I'm growing tired of being pulled back toward the machinations of Mystech. They should have stayed "dead" after their fall, and you... your foolish drive for power has once again placed you in a tough situation. You should have accepted my offer to the Hellfire Club when I was on the Black Queen's court. We would have protected you from Mystech. Now your life depends on harvesting this mutant upstarts, most of whom will not survive if left to their own devices."

Finn shook his head.

"The past is the past. I was a foolish young man back with then with an inflated sense of worth when it came to Mystech. I thought they would take care of me. I should have realized they were only keeping me until I proved to no longer be useful.. I've seen the "burn notice"."

He had seen the order a few days ago that Mystech had decided to kill him off. The company was failing, barely breathing at this point and apparantly the board had decided that Agent Finn was someone who might defect. After 20 years of dedicated service, Mystech was planning to kill him.

Shade: I could kill you for wasting my time...

Finn felt the cold but inviting tendrils of shadow graze his cheek among other places and for a moment he felt what he had so many years ago, when he was a man on top, a man at the peak of his life, both professionally and personally. Those days were long gone.

Shade: I'll help you.. if only to be RID of you. Don't be surprised though if my...appetite prevents me from delivering more than one..maybe TWO of these children.

He began rubbing the stuble underneath his chin.

"I figured as much. You have free reign as usual."

Shade: It has been a while, and their auras are strong..all of them. I am not a pawn for mystech, I owe them nothing, they will get what I feel they deserve and YOU? when this is over...YOU better find a new hobby.

Finn smirked.

"Thank you, Selene. The problem will be getting these kids to trust you. They obviously know that Mystech is involved in the light strobe's death. We've tried attaining control over the Archangel Foundation with no dice. Trelaven had it protected pretty damn well, so I will leave the rest to your capable hands among other things..."

He viewed the monitors with her.

"Maybe i'll be one of the guys who builds boats in those little tiny bottles. That seems simple enough.."

 

[Brenthon]

Melrose Place to Home

Before long, the group had dispatched the Ant Lions. Everyone was covered in muck and guck of the exploded and mutilated spider bodies. Jackson cleaned himself off as best as he could and put his wet jeans and grey vee neck t-shirt as they made plans to meet at the Foundation tomorrow.

Effy: When you get outside, scatter. Remember, we meet back at the Foundation tomorrow.

Everyone was somewhat in a state of panic and so was Jackson, but he was also pretty damn impressed with what they had accomplished. They had taken out three pretty big and powerful spiders and they did it as a team. Obviously the spiders were from Mystech. They had begun to find out a little too much for their liking he guessed. He remained silent as everyone gathered their belongings and made a break for it.

Thankfully, Jackson was already driving off of as he saw the cops swarm Melrose Place in the distance. Yes he had been drinking but after what he had just encountered, after what he had SEEN, he was stone cold sober. He sped off into the night as his ipod played something he wasn't much paying attention to.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Sure it had been exhilirating and exciting but then Jackson got to thinking. Did they really think they could take down an organization that was global? They had the funds and the resources to make sure that nobody ever even knew they existed, and here were a few rowdy teenagers with chips on their shoulders trying to act like they knew what they were doing?

"Remembering me before it began, sometimes I felt so def in the jam.."

He turned the music up as he made his way outside the city of Los Angeles and into the small but extremely rich and affluential town of Calabasas. Though Jackson spent most of his time in the city of angels as did his parents, Calabasas was alot more suburan and family oriented. He couldn't figure out why Hank and Helen decided to live there, it's not as if they were anything closely resembling a family, but he had to admit, sometimes it was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city.

Pushing the number into the gate, it slowly opened as he zoomed up the driveway. They weren't home. again. Probably an industry party. Or they were both seeing the people they were cheating on each other with. Whatever. He walked up the staircase his iPod in hand as he attached the earplugs and plugged them into his ears.

"I can't believe myself..i'm wishing to be anyone else and i'm feeling like all this hell might change something good in the end.."

He loved the Sounds. He took off his shirt and changed into a pair of cotton drawstring lightweight sweatpants as he opened the door to his balcony and sat in one of the comfy lounge chairs and looked up at the night sky, taking a moment to process just what had occured today. He had buried one of the only people in his life that got him and didn't poke fun. He had broken into an apartment complex and then killed a giant spider. But he had also had fun. Jackson had to figure out a way to get the thoughts out of his head. Instinctively, he grabbed the notepad and pen that were sitting on the end table next to chair, and he began to write.

 

[Shade]

agreed

"The past is the past. I was a foolish young man back with then with an inflated sense of worth when it came to Mystech. I thought they would take care of me. I should have realized they were only keeping me until I proved to no longer be useful.. I've seen the "burn notice"."

He had seen the order a few days ago that Mystech had decided to kill him off. The company was failing, barely breathing at this point and apparantly the board had decided that Agent Finn was someone who might defect. After 20 years of dedicated service, Mystech was planning to kill him.

If there was an ounce of compassion or concern in her black heart...even Gabriel couldnt see it BUT Selene DID feel for the man. Or maybe it was just the memories of times past, still if helping him would INTERFERE with Mystech and ensure that he'd live, if only to serve as a future object of WRATH for her ( ) then so be it.

He began rubbing the stuble underneath his chin.

"I figured as much. You have free reign as usual."

"Tell me something I DON'T know. Better yet, had you accepted my invitation to the Hellfire Club, you could have told that telepathic slut, MALICE that before I had to get in her pretty face and let her know MYSELF.

Finn smirked.

"Thank you, Selene. The problem will be getting these kids to trust you. They obviously know that Mystech is involved in the light strobe's death. We've tried attaining control over the Archangel Foundation with no dice. Trelaven had it protected pretty damn well, so I will leave the rest to your capable hands among other things..."

He viewed the monitors with her.

"There many paths to the hearts of foolish, impetuous youths such as these. Each one will require a different method. I'll deal with tme accordingly."

At the mention of Delilah Trelevan, Shade's face betrayed a look of contempt though it couldnt be seen as her ice blue eyes narrowed.

"MorningStar. How i hated her. She was stronger than she looked. No doubt in part because of the influence of her friends, the bloodthirsty witch Spellbinder and the lethal precog Harbinger. MorningStar denied me a target long ago. We fought and she prooved to be more capable than I would have thought. It was a mistake that I wouldnt make again but someone else BEAT me to the goal of killing her. "

"Whatever happened before...that doesnt change the fact that these children are now vulnerable and ripe for the taking."

Walking away from Finn, the sound of her high heeled boots click on the floor could be heard.

"I'll be in touch."

And that was enough of an affirmation to Finn that Selene WOULD in fact go after these children. Her motive was simple...it had been a while since she had killed. It had been a while since had an adventure worth enjoying and DAMN Mystech! NO ONE would harm Gabriel but HER if it came down to it. :fdevil:

Selene walks into a shadowed corner of a wall and disappears. Gone.

 

[Brenda Castle]

"Thanks, Livvie."

Brenda said as she was pulled to her feet. There was no time to freak out about what had just happened, because sirens could be heard and they were getting louder. Everybody started pulling themselves together. Brenda grabbed her shirt and stuffed it in her bag, which she then slung over her shoulder as she reached down to grab her heels by the straps. Effy advised them to all go different directions once they left the courtyard. Jackson was the first out and made it all the way to his car as the cops were turning down the street, Brenda made sure everyone else was at LEAST outside the Melrose gates as the cop cars came screeching to a halt in front of them. Olivia suddenly broke into a sprint, JUST LIKE A GUILTY CRIMINAL WITHOUT A LICK OF SENSE MIGHT, and predictably, a couple of cops broke off to chase her. Effy took the distraction as a chance to slip off unnoticed in the other direction. Rich wasn't around, and Brenda assumed he'd turned his body into air or done something equally stealthy to escape. The cops that stayed to respond drew their weapons on Brenda.

Brenda stood there, covered in scrapes, dirt, and slime. No shirt on, shoes in hand, and her shorts [which were practically all she was wearing besides her undergarments] were soaked and sticking to her body. She was sporting a confused, but innocent smile. It was time to get HELLA unethical. She put thoughts in their heads, making them THINK it was their own thoughts, their own ideas. She did not allow them to finish ANY thoughts of suspicion, only replacing them with this: No, she's not guilty of anything, she's just walking down sidewalk, wrong place, wrong time. Better get her out of there before she gets HURT!

"What's going on, officers?"

Officer: "Alright miss, just come on over here, nice and easy. We got a call about some disturbance at that apartment complex behind you there, it's nothing for you to worry about."

"Oh… well don't let ME get in your way."

Officer: "It's no problem at all, miss. Just part of the job, keeping you safe and all. Would you like someone to take you home?"

"No thank you. My car's right over there."

She breezed past them, her smile now vulpine, and they paid her no more attention. She looked at her watch…. She was supposed to meet her parents for dinner in half an hour. She ducked into the still unlocked Archangel foundation to quickly clean herself up. There was no time to go home and change out of her wet clothes, but it wasn't like THAT was problem. She'd just stop by the Dior shop on Rodeo Drive and get something appropriate for dinner.

 

[Longshot]

Goodbye, Old Friend..

"Tell me something I DON'T know. Better yet, had you accepted my invitation to the Hellfire Club, you could have told that telepathic slut, MALICE that before I had to get in her pretty face and let her know MYSELF."

He laughed.

"You two never did get along. Sadly, we both know she is still up to her old tricks, wheeling and dealing as always."

Finn listened as Selene recounted a personal encounter with Delilah, which did in fact ease his mind. The fact that she had made personal contact with the mutant made him feel more sure that Selene would deliver on her promise.

"There are many paths to the hearts of foolish, impetuous youths such as these. Each one will require a different method. I'll deal with them accordingly."

That was why he had fallen for Selene in the first place. She had the beauty, the brains and the mystique and like himself she was a brillaint manipulator. Watching her work, watching her in action was absolutely breathtaking. Selene was one of the true femme fatales left in this world. The others like Helena and Diana, were merely only good actresses.

Whatever happened before...that doesn't change the fact that these children are now vulnerable and ripe for the picking. I'll be in touch.

He heard the clicking of her boots as she walked away and dissappeared into the shadows, leaving him to the coldness and solitude of his office.

"Thank You..."

Finn whispered as he rested his head in the palm of his left hand. Perhaps he would get out of here alive, but he didn't have much time, and if Selene failed, he would have no choice but to get the children through BRUTE force. In somewhat of a drunken stupor, he walked over his coatrack and put on his trenchcoat, and headed out the door. The next few days would literally mean life or death for Gabriel Finn but for right now, he needed to sleep off the booze.

 

[Elizabeth Stone]

Effy blended in with the crowds, walking towards West Hollywood for a while. The well to do of LA were getting off work and heading to the fashionable shops and restaurants, while the tourists buzzed and snapped pictures of the “glamorous” life. Her clothes were damp and she was a little chilled, but the walking helped. She hugged her arms to her chest. In the heat of the moment she hadn’t questioned things, just reacted. But clearly those things had been sent to attack them. It didn’t add up to a coincidence. Delilah and all her friends were dead, no one lived at Melrose Place anymore – the only thing for anyone to find at the apartment building was them.

There was no question about that; the only questions on Effy’s mind were how much those behind it knew about them, and whether they wanted them dead or just kidnapped.

She wished she had taken her mother’s car. It was a long bus ride to Laurel Canyon. But her mind had lots of time to process things, and she had a plan of action by the time she reached home.

Her mother had forgotten to lock the door behind her again. She wouldn’t be surprised if one day some crazed psychopath killed them all in their sleep, as much as the woman took an interest in her family’s security. Maggie was sitting at the kitchen table, smoking a cigarette with a glass of scotch in front of her. Effy went to the cabinet and got out a glass, filling it at the tap.

“How was school?” Maggie asked.

Effy turned around and looked at her. She scowled.

“It’s Sunday.”

Maggie took another drag and nodded. She had been crying again. Effy didn’t feel bad for her. She was having an affair with some douchebag in the IT department where her father worked. Effy had walked in on them having sex in the living room one day. She didn’t tell her father. Then one day the douchebag showed up at their door when they were having breakfast, with flowers and a box of candy from Target. Her father didn’t live with them anymore after that.

Her mother was staring off into space again. Effy pulled a Camel out of the pack on the table and lit it.

“I met some kids today.”

Maggie didn’t look at her. “That’s nice,” she said dreamily.

“We broke into an apartment building and went through some dead woman’s stuff. It was cool.”

Nothing.

“Then we had an orgy in the pool. But it’s okay, one of the guys is the baby’s father, so…”

Maggie wiped her face with her hand.

Effy dropped the glass of water she was holding. It crashed to the floor and shattered. Maggie was startled and looked at Effy, then to the glass, confused, not knowing what to do.

Effy just stared at her mother, then went up to her room without a word. Maggie didn’t follow.

Effy peeled off her dirty, damp clothes. She went into the bathroom and washed her face and arms, cleaning the gunk and dirt off of her. She did her makeup, and her hair, and she got dressed in a clean dress and some strappy high-heeled sandals. Getting into clubs was easy as pie when you could control the computer that printed your driver’s license, giving you a “genuine” fake.

With a spritz of perfume she tiptoed down the stairs and out the front door.

This time she took the car.

 

[Ana-Leigh Moreau]

Reaching Hollywood Blvd, Olivia had lost the police a few blocks back. But still, she wanted to get 'lost' in the crowd just for added cover. Unlike the others, Olivia actually had a record. And she sure as hell wasn't about to get into her car--a car registered under her name--and drive off giving the police a chance to run her tags if they happened to catch a sight of them. She didn't have rich parents to bail her out of jams. Just herself.

Walking by the Kodak theatre, Livvie headed into Old Navy, which was right near by. Grabbing a pair of jean shorts and a dark purple tank top, she headed to a less busy section of the store. Once there, Livvie shorted out the electricity in the store, including the backup generators. Quickly stripping her shirt and skirt off, she ripped the tags off the tank top and shorts before putting them on. It took not even 30 seconds before Livvie was dressed. Shoving her wet clothes into her purse, she made her way to the front of the store unnoticed by patrons and staff members. As she exited Old Navy, the lights flickered back on into the store.

Starved, Livvie headed into the Kodak Theatre's outdoor shopping and food court. Tying her wet[and dried slimmy] hair back into a pony tail, she headed upstairs to Quizno's to grab some dinner. Deciding to wait a couple hours before going back to get her car, she figured a yummy dinner and some shopping with the money she jacked from that lady at the Grove would definitely help her kill time.

 

[Matrix]

Rich was ready to rumble, part two when the spider-thing was electrocuted.

Olivia...pretty cool.

He had no time to bask in what happened however, as sirens sounded. The cops were there and they needed to scatter.He nodded as the obvious was pointed out, and as the others made their way safely out of there aw warn aim mass followed each of them until they were clear of the scene.

As the cops slowly made their way into the gate a fierce wind blew it shut with a slam, keeping them out. The first two would swear later that they saw clothes and a back pack FLOAT away...away into the night.

Richard became fully material again beside his bike, settling into his now-dried clothes and pulling off. He headed for the hills, but not to stay in some compound like Jackson or to meet his parents at a swank restaurant like Brenda.

No. Since MysTech had done all it could to place the assets of Archangel in jeopardy and failed, the consequence was that it was no longer OPEN. Rich was homeless by modern standards, living off the land and whatever he took from Archangel before it closed its doors.

He drove on to a cave he'd been using in the hills, not so bad once he'd cleaned out the bats and their guano. He pulled over and switched back to steel form, easily lifting his bike over his head as he took it inside over the rocks. He looked around, nothing out of place. The only things there were some chemistry and physics books Delilah gave him and wood for a fire that he'd had going last night.

He sighed heavily. As tough as he seemed at times in the end he was a kid, with no one else, now that Delilah was gone. He sat heavily down and leaned back against the rocky wall. An orb weaver lazily descended down fron where he'd started at the to pof the small cave. Rich stuck out a finger and the spider landed on him, cautious at first, then lazily crawling about. Rich smirked at the creature.

You know...I had a hell of a time with some cousins of yours tonight. Met some new people too. If you're still here in the morning, maybe I'll tell you 'bout it.

As he spoke the last word, he grew very still. He slowly turned into stone, a silent gargoyle in his own little space. The spider, the cave, the ocean off in the distance and the moon were all that looked over Rich as he slept.

 

[Isis]

it's only a dream or is it?

[ no child should have to sleep like this, even a mutant. richard had a past that was more tragic than the others and as such, he benefited from the Nicolas King foundation, an organization that had benefited many children who were left orphaned or victimized by disasters involving super humans (among other things). But Nicolas King, an ally of Delilah and a member of the Six was also dead now. His only living relative was the mysterious chanteuse, Dominique Deveraux, his aunt. She was a powerfull woman, both in AND out of the boardroom. Her connection to Nicolas extended beyond just bloodline though.]

[ as Richard Martin slept alone in the dark cave, a shadow cast long across the wall of the cave as a form appeared at the mouth of the cave. a woman, covered by a cloak was now making herself slowly into the cave, closing in on Richard.]

[ soon, she was standing before him, even in his stone form blending into the rocks, she knew he was there.]

Richard Martin...wake up.

[ her stern, elegant voice commanded. was this a dream? how could she know him? how did she know he was there? was this a dream? or an enemy!? who was this woman? ]