The Cale Storyline Story 11 Chapter 2

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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Power of Mind, Power of Fury

Chapter 2: Corporate Mysteries (updated)

Richard Cale walked into the lab that was almost broken into the previous night. He didn’t know much about the project that was going on in this room, but he knew it was like something he had heard about. When he looked around, one scientist said, “Hello sir. Sorry for the state of the lab, but that attack has made this place a basketcase.”

Rich nodded and said, “It’s alright. So this is the company’s top secret project. What, if I may be so bold to ask, is it?”

The one scientist walked over and said, “This is the Gateway project.” As the scientist neared him, Rich could tell the man was a mutant, mainly due to the fact that the man had a glow in his eyes. The man stopped and said, “Sir, I didn’t know that..”

Rich completed the sentence. “that I am a mutant. It’s alright. This company was founded in a mutant friendly town, and you are exempt from the laws that would surpress mutants when you work for Paladin Technologies.” It was true. All mutant employees were considered residents of Easton, Rich’s home which was pro-mutant. “Now, what is this Gateway project.”

The scientist nodded and said, “Well, there is no doubt you have heard of the Age of Apcolypse, the alternate timeline that our world could have followed, and that some mutants are refugees from that age.” Rich shuddered at the thought. A world in that maniac’s iron grip was not a pleasent thought. The scientist then said, “Well, we were hoping to build a gateway to connect to alternate worlds, and try and help people in them.”

Rich really didn’t like the thought of crossing barriers in time and space. He said, “I’m leary on this. What if the wrong being comes through? Or we bring someone here that already exists?” The scientist looked down and Rich knew something had happened. “What happened?”

The other scientist said, “About 2 days ago, before we called you, someone came through. They were a mutant, but they disappeared just as they arrived. The only thing is that they didn’t go back in the gateway.”

He shook his head. They didn’t know if this was a good being or a bad one. He looked at both scientists and said, “As of right now, take it apart. Destroy all your records on it as well. If the wrong person gets ahold of this, the world might as well be doomed.” They nodded and started on the task. He then said, “Before you destroy all the notes, I want a copy to see who authorized this

As Rich left the lab, he heard the intercom page him. He walked over to the nearest unit and said, “Yes, what is it?”

The voice on the other end said, “Sir, the police are here about the break in.”

He nodded and said, “Keep them there and do the standard check. I’ll be right over.” He straighted his suit and started to work his way to the lobby. He glanced back over his shoulder thinking he was being watched.

She watched from a hiding spot that no one had checked in. When she stumbled on the portal, she didn’t know what caused it. She didn’t know if she had traversed to a better place or not. In the room she watched now, she saw several men in blue suits. From pictures she had seen from her past, they looked like people called policemen. Some were in plain clothes, but more were in uniform. She then noticed as a well dress young man entered the room. When she saw the face she quietly said, “It can’t be, can it?”

She listened carefully as he spoke, “Greetings officers, I’m Richard Cale, owner of this company. I’d like to thank you for coming so soon.” The voice confirmed her suspicisions. It was him, Richard Cale, however, he wasn’t the victim of hideous experiments.

She shuddered as she though of what had happened to him and his wife in her world. This was obviously a different world, one where Apocalypse had not taken over. As she watched the scene unfold, she wondered one question. Why had she been brought here, unless in someway, she was there to protect Richard and his wife from Apocalypse. She nodded and said, “Yes, that’s why I’m here, and I will make sure nothing happens to you.” She then looked down and saw that guns were pointed almost everywhere. It was not a good sign.

Detective Perkins was surprised when his one officer pulled out his gun and aimed it at the owner of the company. He had never seen any officer threaten a man for their beliefs. He heard the officer say, “I’m not going to be told by a mutie lover that I can’t do my job.” He noticed that several men also had guns drawn, but on his officer, and that Mr. Cale was remarkably calm.

He quickly shouted, “Put your gun down, Charlie.” He could see that Charlie wasn’t going to listen as the gun stayed level and aimed at Richard Cale. Then he saw something and realized how much trouble Charlie was in. Some of the men in the room were FBI agents. He started putting things together and realized that Richard Cale was the same one the FBI was protecting from the mutant maniac, Soundwave. He quickly turned and tackled his officer to the ground. “Have you lost your mind?” was all he shouted to the man.

The officer just said, “You siding with a mutie lover, sir? He’s the kind that makes this world terrible for us.”

Detective Perkins just said, “Yes I’m siding with a ‘mutie lover’, but I’m siding with FBI as well. That guy is under federal protection. If you’re lucky, he won’t press charges.”

The officer just said, “He has no right. Mutie lovers are like muties, not human.” For the first time, Detective Perkins noticed the pin the officer wore. It was for the hate group known as the Friends of Humanity.

He saw the FBI agents right next to him and said, “Here, lock him up for attempted murder. I don’t really care if anyone thinks he was right.” He didn’t care if it went over well with the other officers, but he was going to respect the owner’s wishes. He then walked over to the owner and said, “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know that such a good officer would go ballistic over a thing like that.”

He watched as Richard Cale nodded and said, “I’m just glad he didn’t pull the trigger. I must be honest, that’s one of the reasons I had to have you answer those questions at the door. Paladin Technologies is a mutant friendly company.”

Detective Perkins let a small laugh out as he said, “Well, I guess no one told your attackers that.” He noticed that Mr. Cale didn’t like the joke and said, “So how long have they been attacking?”

Richard Cale just looked at him and said, “About two months, but this time they slipped up. Plus, there was someone who saw the attack, but he’s unconscious right now.”

The detective started to wonder if Richard Cale was leaving out some facts and said, “Alright, how about you start from the top.” He watched as Richard Cale nodded and led them to a room. He felt that this would be a long conversation.

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Angelo walked down one of the halls, talking with Darrett. Although he didn’t know much about the boy, he knew somewhat of what he was going through. He also knew Darrett had some problems to sort out, but he wanted to talk to another guy about the new girl that had arrived. “Hey, Darrett, have you seen the new girl yet?”

He watched as Darrett nodded and said, “So, it’s just another person around here.” Sometimes Darrett seemed pessimistic.

Angelo was a bit in shock and said, “Dude, it’s not just another person, it’s another babe. You have to admit that she looks sexy.” And she did. Angelo had never seen a girl look that good, but she also seemed abit plain. “I wonder if her ability is linked to her beauty.”

He noticed that Darrett still did not care. Before he could say another word, Darrett just said, “Pardon me if I don’t get excited, but I’m sort of leary of girls since that whole incident with Claudette.” Deep down, Angelo couldn’t blame him, mainly on what they had learned about Claudette, but giving how he looked, he’d kill for that attention.

He was startled when he heard a voice say, “Who’s Claudette?” He turned to see the new girl, Quinn, coming up behind them.

He didn’t want her to worry, since today was just her first day. He still remembered hearing about Rich’s reaction when he first saw the image of Emplate. “You’ll find out in time. So what do you think about the school so far?”

He noticed she just shrugged and said, “I’m not sure. I hope it’s well secure. I’d hate for any of those people that tried to harm me to get in and hurt me.”

He just smiled and said, “It will be alright. We have one of the best security systems here. If something is going to happen, we know about it first.” He felt a little proud about it.

He was surprised when she walked up to him and said, “Well, I hope you protect me if anyone does attack.” He watched as she winked at him and then walked off.

He was somewhat in shock, but he heard Darrett say, “Be careful. You might get hurt.”

Angelo watched as Darrett walked off and said, “I doubt it. I can tell that she likes me.” He turned to follow Quinn, but she had disappear. At least she was someone here instead of someplace he couldn’t go again, like Torres.

Emma sat in her office chair as Yvette literally collapsed in another chair. She heard her student say, “I never knew how much would go into what you do for these.” She knew what Yvette was talking about, but she wanted to wait for Sean to enter before she said anything else.

Soon enough, Sean entered the room and shut the door. She watched as he glared at both of them and said, “Alright, while I don’t like what you did, what did ye find out?” She had told him that she and Yvette would try and get into the new girl’s mind, to find out what none of the other methods could find out.

She sighed and said, “Nothing. We found absolutely nothing.” It upset her that she had failed in something she had no trouble in doing before. “It’s like she’s conditioned her mind to mind probes. Not even Yvette’s variation of telepathy could break the barrier.”

Sean looked at Yvette and sighed, “She put her all into it.” She nodded, and he said, “I guess that means we might have to wait for either Everett or Richard to return.”

She nodded and said, “Yes, it looks that way, and we don’t know when either is due back. I hope Richard is the one who returns first.” She was surprised when the vid-phone rang. When she pushed the button for it, she was surprised when she saw who was on the other end. She smiled and said, “Rich, how good of you to call. We were just talking about you.”

She was caught off guard when she heard him say, “I know, my ears were burning.” She noticed as Rich looked over at Yvette and said, “My goodness, what happened that Yvette’s so tired.”

Emma decided to answer the questions and said, “We tried to probe our new student’s mind. She has some strong defenses. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get through. We hope you can when you get back.”

She was surprised when he said, “I should be able to return the day after tomorrow, maybe sooner, but I want to make sure the attackers are properly taken care of. Almost had a shoot out here in my company.”

She watched as Yvette almost perked up and said, “Are you alright, dear?” Emma could hear the concern in Yvette’s voice.

Rich smiled and said, “Yes. Luckily the police officer that went nutso was taken away. I guess I lucked out on that one.”

Emma looked at the screen and said, “Rich, why did the officer go nutso? Was it something you said?” She had a feeling he wasn’t telling the whole story about what happened, and she had an idea why, glancing over at Yvette.

Rich nodded and said, “I didn’t want to say this part, but you’ve backed me into a corner. He was part of the Friends of Humanity. He didn’t think I was a mutant, or if he suspected it, he knew enough not to shoot outright. The FBI bodyguards are earning their pay, however, I did have to do some reassuring that I wasn’t trying to hinder their investigation.”

She heard Sean say, “Very risky, lad. Just be careful.”

She watched as Rich nodded and said, “Well, tomorrow, we will know something about our attackers. Also, I need a favor of both of you.”

Emma looked at Rich and said, “What do you need?” She was surprised how calm he was. He seemed to act as if the attack had never happened at all.

He then said, “I need you to find out from any of the X-men if they know anything about the ‘Age of Apoclypse’. Apparently, my scientists found a way to access it, and something came through, however, they don’t know what.” She found it an odd request, but she knew who to ask. She nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll call tomorrow, when I know more about our attackers.” She was surprised when he killed the connection.

She just looked over at Sean, and before she said one word, he said, “I know. I’ll try and get in touch with Bishop, he’d know more than any of us.” She nodded and watched as he went to the door. She was then started when she saw Monet standing at the door as he openned it. Apparently she was just about to knock to come in.

Yvette watched from the chair she was sitting in as Monet entered the room. She was startled when Monet said, “I’m sorry for interupting, but I noticed that Yvette seemed a bit washed out. Is something wrong?”

Yvette didn’t know if she should answer, but Emma answered the question for her. “We were trying to find out something about our newest student. However, she appears to have a few mental blocks up that we can’t get through.”

Yvette then said, “It’s taken a drain on me. Maybe I should head back to the apartment.” As she got up, she felt like she was about to collapse. She almost did, until Monet quickly grabbed her. She faced her friend and said, “Thanks Monet. Maybe I might need some help.”

She heard her ‘father’ say, “Monet, could you help Yvette get back to her and Rich’s apartment.” She watched as Monet nodded, and then he said, “Yvette, you better just rest.” She nodded and Monet helped her out of the office.

As they continued down the hall, Yvette said, “Monet, what do you think of Quinn?” She honestly hadn’t had any bad feelings about Quinn, but she wanted to know what others thought. She watched as Monet looked around puzzled. She then said, “Monet, do you know where we are going?”

She was surprise when Monet said, “No, I think I was unconscious when you and Rich moved.” She then remember that Rich and she moved when Monet was in that severe shock.

Yvette smiled and said, “I forgot. Follow my lead then.” After she said that, she gave a slight tug to lead Monet in the right direction. She knew Rich had picked the particular underground rooms because it was secluded and very difficult to access. She liked that as well.

As they continued walking down there, Monet said, “When you asked about Quinn, she seems to be alright. She seems to be a well rounded woman, however, she does look like she could use some physical improvement, like a better diet.”

Yvette almost nodded in agreement. Quinn didn’t dress to suit her appearance. She then said, “Well, maybe it’s linked to her ability. Maybe she can’t hold a a phyical shape too long. I will admit, she does seem a bit overweight in some areas, but in other area’s she seems skinny.”

She watched as Monet nodded and said, “That’s another of her mysteries. I hope nothing happens until we find out more about her. Think of her like a kindred spirit. You, Quinn and I seem to be full of mysteries when we first arrived here.”

Yvette nodded to that statement and then realized where they were. “Monet, this is the apartment. Could you help me over to the key pad.” She appreciated Monet’s assistance. When she finally unlocked the door, she turned to Monet and said, “Thanks, I can handle myself from here.”

Monet looked at her and said, “Are you sure, Yvette? If there is anything else I can do, just say so.”

Yvette found this a little odd, but Monet had acted different since the incident with Claudette. “No, I’ll be fine. You might want to rest up though, Emma said something to me earlier about a training session tomorrow.” She entered and closed the door, locking it behind her. Even though they were in a secret part of the underground area, Yvette and Rich always felt safer with the door locked.

She felt like two things would help right now, sleep and a shower. She started to get everything ready for a shower when she heard Grimore say, “Long day, mistress?”

She nodded and said, “Yes, it has been a long day, and tomorrow may be the same. The new girl is a mystery.” She wondered if Rich had ever told Grimore about why he left the college he attended. She said to the cat, “Grimore, why did Rich leave the college he was at?”

She looked up in the mirror as Grimore said, “Well, there was Onslaught at the time, and the murders at the school. He only said to me that he stumbled across the murderer by accident, and figured it would be better if he never explained how he knew.” She realized part of what that meant. The murderer had been a mutant, and she started to wonder if it was the new student.

Quinn was getting tired of waiting. The boss had told her to wait for them before striking at anyone. The whole plan revolved on an attack from both sides, but only at the right time. There were to be two strikes, a fake one, and the real one, however, some of her recent discoveries made her want to forget the plan. She was startled when she heard her boss say, “Upset at finding out he was here?”

Quinn tensed up and spun around to face her boss. She was upset and her boss knew it. “Yes, I am upset. If I had know he was here, I wouldn’t have agreed to this plan.” She almost shivered as her boss approached her and back her into the wall.

Her boss had an upset look in her eyes. “Listen here, Quinn, I picked you because of your hatred for him in general. Out of our rag tag group, you are the one that I can’t risk losing at all. You want him to suffer, I want Richard Cale to suffer. We work together, we get the common goal. Also, be thankful that I protected you mind from probing, or they would have known about all this.”

Quinn looked at her boss in shock. “You mean they were probing my mind. Who was doing that? Miss Frost and Mrs. Cale?” Her boss nodded and she almost erupted in a fit of rage. “Those voyeurist bitches. I want to get them both back.” She then smiled and said, “You said tonight would be a fake attack. What if Emma would disapper tonight, but we kept her hidden somewhere out of the way.”

She saw her boss smile as she said, “True, but we need to incapacitate Yvette. Golden and Freeze Frame will arrive in an hour, and I will notify them of the change. Remember, we cannot let Yvette disappear.”

Quinn gave her boss a nod and said, “Boss, with one long kiss, Yvette won’t be awake for at least two days.” Her boss started to laugh, and Quinn said, “Besides, it will be easier to subdue the other guys here.” There was more laughter and they left to prepare for the attack.

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