The Cale Storyline Story 13 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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Win Some, Lose Some

Chapter 3: Reaching Out For Answers (updated)

Rich stayed seated at the table waiting patiently. He didn’t want to say anything while the rest of Generation X was nearby. He didn’t want to spook them if it wasn’t needed. He still didn’t say anything until Emma said, “They can’t hear you if you speak now, Richard.”

He nodded and said, “Thank you, Emma. I think we should hope that I’m worried for nothing, but I have an idea of what the girl’s problem is.” He couldn’t judge by facial expressions, since he couldn’t see, but he could hear auditory recognitions of the matter, especially from Emma, and Yvette.

He heard Cartier say, “Please tell me it isn’t what I think your going to say, not with you being blind right now.”

Rich wanted to respond to that, but Sean said, “Hank McCoy is coming up tomorrow to remove the blindfold, so he won’t be blind for much longer. Now Rich, tell us what you think it is, or don’t I want to know?”

Rich quietly gulped and said, “Emplate. I’m certain that their problem is Emplate, but I don’t know why. I just know that Emplate is the problem.” If it hadn’t been for the nightmare, he wouldn’t have been convince it was Emplate.

He then heard Gabe say, “Pardon, my ignorence on the matter, but what is an Emplate?” Rich knew that Gabe was aware of Marius, but not of the name Marius now called himself.

Before he could answer, Cartier said, “Emplate is Marius.” He heard Gabe gasp, and Cartier continued by saying, “He’s been a problem for these kids ever since the school openned.”

Rich then said, “Plus the fact that my wife, Yvette, had been a prisoner of his for a while, and that I was the one that helped her break free has put me on his hit list.” Although he lived in fear of Emplate, Rich knew he had a few things in his favor. One was his love for Yvette, which gave him alot of strength. Second was having friends like Generation X. The final item was his sword. It acted as a perfect counter to Emplate.

He then heard Yvette say, “He had a feeling something was up. He had a nightmare last night.” He heard Sean gasp at that moment. Sean was the only one who didn’t know about the nightmare. Well, he and the students didn’t know.

He then heard Sean say, “When were you going to bring this up, lad? When it actually happened?”

Rich honestly felt like snapping back at Sean but decided not to. He understood what Sean meant by that. He just shook his head and said, “I honestly didn’t know what it meant, Sean. It wasn’t until the girls arrived that I realized the danger they were in. Right now, everyone is going to need to help in protecting them until I can see.”

Before he could say another word, he heard a familiar voice say, “You mean Emplate is after the girls.” He recognized who it was. Mondo had returned and heard the mention of Emplate. He was more surprised when he heard Mondo continue. “It looks like you were right, Jono.”

Rich had an idea of why they were there. “I take it you both found something out that is informative.” He hadn’t asked them to do anything information searching, but something in him that they might do something.

Jono answered the question. "We only guessed that Emplate was involved. We also figure that we might want to keep a watchful eye on Britney." Rich was surprised at this concern.

He heard Emma say, “Why watch her? Do you suspect something?”

He thought about it for a moment and said, “She’s the leader of their clique, but she feels threatened by Christina. That explains some of the imagery in my dream. We’ll just all have to keep an eye on her, however, we can’t make her feel like she’s under suspicion. We’ll have to think something up.”

He then heard Emma say, “I can put a lock on all outgoing phone calls, and a screening on the incoming calls.”

Rich just nodded and said, “That sound’s good. Mondo, Jono, why don’t you head back to your rooms or to who you were with. I don’t know if you want to continue on the assignment I gave you or not.” When he heard them both walk out of the room, he stood up and said, “Cartier, Gabe, maybe we should continue our talk in privacy, at our apartment.” He felt Yvette take his arm and they started out of the room.

As they walked down the halls that lead to the apartment, he heard Gabe say, “Rich, what did happen to your eyes?”

Rich didn’t know if his family friends could grasp the idea of Mojo, but he needed to give some sort of explanation. He just said, “To be honest, someone thought of trying to take my life and broadcast it. He had gone as far as to implant cameras in my eyes. However, thanks to Yvette, I have a healing factor that is removing them, and I have to keep my eyes closed to prevent the cameras from rebuilding themselves. I have to say, the nutcase was clever.”

Soon, he heard the door to the apartment open, and heard Yvette say, “We’re back Grimore.” He had wondered where she disappeared to after class, and before she met up with him at his office. When he finally sat down, he heard her say, “I think I’ll check on Christina. She might need someone to talk to.” He felt her kiss his cheek and he smiled.

When the door opened and closed again, he knew she had left, and he felt something jump onto his lap. He then heard Grimore say, “Hello, Paladin. I see the others are here.”

He was surprised when Cartier said, “Yes we are Grimore, and we have some things to talk about.” Rich had a feeling that a lot of explaining needed to be done. Especially by Grimore.

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Freeze Frame looked out the window in the room he had been placed. It was times like these he wondered if he had made a mistake not following the straight and narrow. If anyone would have told him about what path his life would take, he would have called them nuts. Now, he wished someone would have told him this so he could have avoided it. Before, he was a free, but a servant. Now he was a slave, with the possible threat of being Emplate’s next meal. He just sighed and said, “How did I ever get myself into this?”

He was almost startled when a voice behind him said, “You cause this fate, yourself.” He spun around quick to see Emplate standing there. He heard his new master say, “You fouled up on orders from my sister. You knew the consequences. Now, listen up. I need you to be at the ready. When we go to capture the four girls, I need you to cause some delays.”

He was scared, but nodded. Then he said, “Emplate, what if I can’t do it? What if I cause the plan to fail. What if the girls escape?” He just watched Emplate open his hands. He saw that hands on Emplate, and knew what they meant. Emplate hand done the same to him. Made him need to feed off mutants.

He then heard Emplate say, “Very simple. Failure means that you will be my next meal. You will spend the last moments of your life in severe pain as I literally eat you alive.” That thought totally scared him. He didn’t know what to think on that one. Then Emplate said, “If we succeed however, I shall give the traitor to you, to do with as you please.”

Freeze Frame felt a smile cross his face. “You mean I can do anything I want to the girl they call Britney?” He watched as Emplate nodded. He actually liked that idea. Besides, he could tell by how she acted that she was very stuck up and needed to be humbled. “I’ll make her last a good long time, sir.” He watched as Emplate nodded and then left the room. He then looked back out at the stars. Maybe he could vent his frustrations on this new prisoner.

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Jubilee could barely contain her excitement. Ever since she left So-Cal with the X-Men, she hadn’t spoken with Cyn-Jen, but now she knew how to contact her old friend. She turned to face Everett and said, “This is the coolest. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I last spoke to Cyn-Jen.”

She felt Everett take her hand and say, “I’m happy for you, Jubilee. Do you think she’ll remember you, though?”

She had never considered the possibility. With Everett mentioning that, she started to fear her friend would not remember her. She felt herself shudder as she said, “I never thought of that Ev. What if she doesn’t recognize me on the phone?”

Everett then reminded her about what Jessica said. “Jubes, Jessica did say that she talks about you. I don’t think she had forgotten about you.”

She smiled again. “Thanks Ev.” With that, she kissed him. She felt him return the kiss. She didn’t want to get into a long kissing session, at least not now. She stopped the kiss and said, “We can have more kissing later. Right now, I need to make a phone call.” She picked up the phone, only to be startled to hear no dial tone.

She hung it up, and picked it up again. Again, there was no dial tone. She repeated the same motion almost ten times when Ev finally said, “What’s wrong, Jubes?”

She hung up the phone and said, “The line is dead. I can’t make a call out. I think we better tell Sean and Emma about this.” She started to feel like something was up. Was this a sign that Emplate was about to attack? Why were the phone lines down? The last thing that was on her mind now was how her friend was doing.

Yvette made her way up to the floor of the girls dorm that Chris was placed. The only girls that had lived on that hall was Monet and now Clarice. She headed to the room that she figured Chris was in. She noticed that the door was opened a crack, and she heard two voices inside. Both were female, and one was Chris’s. She didn’t recognize the second voice, and it scared her. She looked in through the crack of the door and saw that Chris was sitting calmly on the bed, chatting. Yvette gave a silent sigh and opened the door. “Excuse me, can I join in the conversation?”

She watched as Chris turned, almost startled, and calmed down when she saw who it was. “Yes, Mrs. Cale, you can come in.” For the first time, she had been address formally. It felt odd. It was flattering, but odd. As she entered, she saw the mysterious woman who Chris had been talking to. It looked like another of Darrett’s summons, but she recognized it from one Rich’s videos. Chris then said, “I was talking with ...” Yvette noticed that Chris was trying to remember the name of the character.

The character just responded. “Melodia. She was trying to figure out why she given her mutant power.” Yvette knew that when she found Darrett, she would have to tell him to see Emma.

Yvette just walked over to a chair near the bed and said, “You know, sometimes us girls get some strange mutant powers. Not always the best abilities to have.” Which was true about some of the people she had met. “Have you heard of the X-Men?” When Chris nodded, she then said “Well, one of the girls in the X-Men can not touch another being, and she is drop dead gorgeous.”

She watched as Chris looked at her and asked, “How does she cope with her powers? I mean, whats her power that cursed her like that?”

Yvette sat there and tried to think of how to best describe Rogue. After a few moments, Yvette said, “Well, Rogue, as she is called, has the ability to steal memories and powers, with just a touch. I think the X-Men are working on a way to temporarily nullify her powers so she can live a somewhat normal life, but I don’t know how much progress they made on that.”

She noticed Chris just looked at her and said, “Mrs. Cale, can they do that for me as well? I would like to be able to shut off this ability from time to time. You don’t know what it’s like having an ability where people are afraid to get close to you because your ability would do something to them.”

Yvette shook her head and said, “Chris, please call me Yvette, and I do know what you are going through.” She tensed up her right hand and held it up. “Chris, for years, I used to be tensed up like this. It wasn’t until Richard came here that I learned to relax and control my ability. If it wasn’t for him, I think I still be scared of my own shadow, and not married to a loving man.” She then noticed that Chris had a sad look in her eyes. Yvette untensed her hand and reached over and hugged the girl. “Don’t worry. In time, you’ll find someone just like Rich, and people will respect your ability.” As Yvette was hugging the girl, she felt the girls body changing. She realize what was happening. Yvette had to muster all her strength to keep from making the girl feel ashamed of her power.

Eventually, Yvette felt Chris push her away. The girl then said, “Mrs. Cale, I mean, Yvette, maybe you should go. I didn’t mean for my ability to affect you like that. I’m sorry.”

Yvette just nodded and said, “It’s ok. I’ll tell Darrett to let Melodia here with you, if it makes you feel more comfortable.” She noticed that Chris didn’t disapprove of that, and she got up and left the room. When she closed the door, she looked at herself, and how Chris had affected her figure. She thanked herself for chosing to wear what she had worn. Nothing would appear to be falling off, although she could have been a look-alike for Jubilee right now. She walked over to Clarice’s room and said, “Clarice, have you seen...” When she looked in, she saw that Clarice wouldn’t be answering.

She saw the two liplocked in a kiss. She stood there in the door until Clarice stopped the kiss in shock and said, “Ummm, sorry Yvette. We didn’t mean to be kissing so long. Darrett was holding my dress because of Chris’s ability affecting me and..” She understood, but she could tell one thing. They weren’t going any farther than kissing.

Darrett then said, “She’s right. It was all innocent.” She had never really seen Darrett nervous about anything, but here he was nervous. She wanted to giggle at the sight, but decided not to.

She then said, “I believe the both of you, but Darrett. You are going to have to talk to Emma. Right now.”

She watched as he nodded and said, “It’s about Melodia, isn’t it.” She nodded and he said, “I figured that would be the case. Should I send her back?”

Yvette shook her head and said, “No Darrett. Chris is ok with her around. However, Emma should be informed of what you conjured up. Remember, you conjure up something new, you should be supervised.” He nodded and left the room with her.

As then left she heard Clarice say, “You aren’t going to mention the kiss to Emma, are you?” Yvette could tell that Clarice was worried. She just looked back and shook her head.

Before they got out of the dorm, she heard Darrett say, “Thank you, Yvette. I just wish I didn’t have to tell Emma about the summons.” Yvette could only guess that the boy was going to get another lecture on his powers.

Emma sat at the computer terminal in her office. The phones had only been shut down for 15 minutes, but about a dozen calls had been attempted. The only thing that made her realize it wasn’t Britney was that all the pickups were in Jubilee’s room. As she watched the details of who tried to call, or who picked up a phone, she heard Sean say, “Emma, how long have ye had that?”

She turned to face Sean and said, “I’ve always had it set up, but never to this extent. It was usually used to monitor for anyone trying to hack in. I never really planned on using it to stop all the phonelines. In fact, there is only one line that this doesn’t monitor and that’s the line in Rich and Yvette’s apartment.”

Sean just sat and said, “So if Emplate does manage to contact one of those girls, it’s through other means, like the recorded message he sent back when Hunter attacked, or even psionically.”

She shook her head when he mentioned the later. “I doubt he’s doing it that way. He has no control over them. If anything, he has given a communicator to one of them. The only problem is we don’t know what to look for.” She almost started to continue when she sensed someone was coming. After a quick psi-check, she knew who it was and said, “Yes, Jubilee, what do you want?”

She watched as Jubilee entered her office. She could see just in her face that something was bothering the usually cheerful student. She did have a feeling what Jubilee was going to ask, before the words left Jubilee’s mouth. “Emma, I’m having problems making a call. I can’t dial out at all. I don’t even get a dial-tone.”

Emma glanced over at Sean and saw that he nodded. He knew what she was about to ask him psyonically. “Jubilee, there is a reason for that. Rich believes that Emplate is after our four guests, and we have reason to believe one of them is helping Emplate.”

She saw how nervous Jubilee appeared to be when the words sunk in. “Tell me your joking. You can’t be serious. If he knew the state Rich is in, he’d grab him and Penny, as well as these girls.” Emma then noticed a look that reflected fear in Jubilee’s face. The girl then asked, “Which one of the girls do you suspect?”

She head Sean answer the question. “Jubilee, it looks like all the facts point towards Britney. She seems to be the one to suspect. Now, who were you trying to call?”

She watched as a calm look crossed Jubilee’s face. Whoever it was, the person meant a deal to Jubilee. “It’s my friend, Cyn-Jen. I found out she lives in Easton now, and works in Godiva’s museum.”

Emma then nodded, “So that’s how the girls found out about Richard. Is this the same friend you told us about that one Christmas, Jubilee?” When Jubilee nodded, she just said, “Well, you may want to ask Rich if you can use his phone. Those are the only phones I can’t block.”

Jubilee nodded, and said, “Do you think he’d mind? He does have company.”

Emma then heard Yvette say, “Mind what?” She looked up to see Yvette standing at the door to the office with Darrett. “What do you think Rich would mind?”

Emma looked at the girl and said, “Jubilee would like to get in touch with an old friend of her’s that works at Godiva’s museum. We have all the phone lines blocked, so she was wondering if she could use your phone.” It still surprised Emma how much Yvette had changed over her time at the school, especially with the arrival of Richard Cale.

She watched as Yvette thought about it for a moment. Finally, Yvette said, “I think it would be alright. I’ll take you there, ok.” Emma watched as Jubilee nodded, and then Yvette said, “Emma, I think Darrett might need a refresher on contacting you or Sean before a new summons.”

As Jubilee and Yvette left the room, Emma looked over at Darrett and said, “You tried a new summons today? Why did you do that?” It was a bit unnerving. Darrett knew very well why he shouldn’t try that, yet he did.

She watched as the boy looked at her and said, “Well, Christina’s ability started to affect Clarice and I tried to help Clarice keep her dignity.” Emma remembered what Clarice had been wearing, and realized that it might not have stayed on the girl if her figure disappeared.

She then head Sean say, “I take it you were making sure Clarice didn’t get embarassed.” When he nodded, she heard Sean say, “Ok, please continue.” She then noticed the look on Sean’s face. It was as if Sean was a protective parent. She remembered what had happened to their Clarice, and now they had a chance with a second one.

Darrett then said, “Well, at that time, I conjured up a female villain named Melodia to stay with Chris. She’s been with her since. Nothing happened that caused Melodia to rebel.” Emma was thankful for that small favor, but it didn’t over look the point that he should have told them what he was trying.

Emma then said, “Darrett, please sit down. I hate to do this, but I need to remind you about why you should tell us when you are pulling a new summons. We don’t want anything to happen that anyone will get injured.” As she continued, she watched as the boy nodded with everything she said. To be honest to herself, Emma knew neither of them liked hearing this lecture.

Cartier sat on a chair as Rich remained almost motionless, but focus on everything he told him about his dilemma. He just said, “Rich, as you are well aware, each of our families have sworn to protect the people from the forces of evil. You as the Paladin, Gabe as the Shadow Hunter, and myself. My family is the only one whose title is unknown, even to us, however, we do rely on magic.”

He saw Rich nod and said, “I understand that much. Given what I have learned since I acquired the title, it is something we cannot take lightly, but society has changed since then.”

He nodded in agreement, and then said, “True, but some traditions are hard to work with. With your family, it always goes to the eldest child, no matter what, similar to how the title transfers in England. With Gabe’s family, the title is to male child, but the child does have the choice if he wants to hold the title or not.”

He heard Gabe say, “My grandfather was proof of that.”

Cartier nodded and said, “However, if my family, it always goes to the eldest male child.” He could see a look of uneasiness cross Rich’s face. “However, the is a way around it, in any case. If the eldest child is considered unfit to hold the title, the elder generation can assign a new person to hold the title, which I would choose to be Monet.”

That was when the dilemma really hit home as Rich said, “But since Claudette took over, Monet is unfit to hold the title. Leaving you in a difficult position.”

Rich now understood the problem. “Yes, and you know how dangerous Marius is. If he had full control of the magic that is at our family’s control, he would be more dangerous than ever.”

He then heard Gabe say, “Pardon my ignorance on the matter, but how dangerous is Marius?”

He heard Rich respond to the question by saying, “Gabe, Marius wants power, but his mutant ability makes him hungry for the genetic makeup of mutants. Literally, he’d have a good meal at this school.” He saw Gabe shudder at that.

Cartier then said, “Exactly, especially after he killed his mother. Something Rich knows he did all to well.” He then saw Rich shudder. “Anyhow, while the girls were still too young to do anything, I had to make sure I wasn’t going to die anytime soon. When the girls merged, I thought there was a chance I could successfully give Monet my abilities.”

Rich then said, “And now you can’t because of Claudette. So what are we supposed to do?”

He heard Gabe say, “What about catching her?”

Rich just shook his head, “She’s gone into hiding. If we could catch one of her gang, then we might be able to find her.”

Cartier didn’t know what to think of that, but he then said, “What if she’s with Marius? Do you know where he hides?” He watched as Rich nodded and he continued by saying, “She might be there.”

He watched as Rich shook his head and said, “I doubt it. Unless we can seperate Monet for Claudette, we have no plan to work with.”

Cartier then said, “Exactly. Until we can make sure Monet can handle this, I’ve got to stay alive.” It was a discomforting thought, but it was entirely true. Neither Marius nor Claudette were fit to control magic, but in time they would learn minimal magic skills.

He then heard Grimore say, “I told you long ago that Marius was evil. Just as Rich is good in his nature.” He then saw how Richard moved his head to face the the direction of the cat. Before Rich could say anything, Grimore just said, “I knew a long time about Marius, but your grandfather and father both vowed to keep him secret from you. Maybe it was not the best choice.”

He listened as Rich said, “Cartier, I still don’t understand how you and Gabe can hear Grimore speak. If Grimore speaks to either Yvette or myself, the others just hear him meow.”

He then hear Gabe say, “I think it comes from the fact that we are virtually the same in our title. Since we each hold some sort of mystical title, we each can understand what Grimore says. However, since he is bound to your family, he is your advisor.”

Cartier was surprise at the answer Gabe gave. “Gabe, that was a very profound answer, and you are still new at this.” He then turned to Rich and said, “But that is the long and short of it. I do have a feeling though you have another question.” He saw that Rich was about to speak, but at that moment, he saw the door open and Yvette came in with Jubilee.

Rich stopped talking the second he heard Yvette in his mind say, "Dear, I think Jubilee has a question for you." He turned himself so he was facing the sound of the door. Yvette then said, “Sorry to interrupt all you, but Jubilee has an important question for you Rich.”

He waited for Yvette to come to his side. He felt Yvette take his hand and he stood up. “What is it Jubilee?” He did wonder why Jubilee had to come down to the apartment to ask him a question.

He heard Jubilee say, “Well, I was wondering if I could use your phone to call my friend Cyn-Jen. I just found out that she was the one who suggest the girl talk to Godiva.” He realized why she was asking him this. Almost everyone at the school had heard a tale about her and Cyn-Jen.

Rich smiled and said, “No problem. In fact, we can use the vid phone to call her.” Almost if prompted, he felt Yvette lead him over to the desk with the vid phone on it. When they stopped, he heard Yvette dialling Godiva’s phone number. He wondered what Godiva’s reaction would be if she saw his face.

Soon enough, he heard Godiva’s voice as she said, “Yes, Lady Godiva speaking.” He heard for the pause, and a scream. Finally, Godiva just said, “Rich, what happened to you? Don’t tell me something bad happened to the girls.”

Rich just smiled as he said, “No, Godiva, they are still fine. I just wish I could have seen your expression, but I’ll have Yvette fill me in on it. As for my eyes, I’ll have to inform you later about what happened to them. Right now, I need to ask you about a girl named Cynthia-Jennifer.”

He heard Godiva laugh and say, “She brought those girls’ problem to my attention. She works here, after school of course. She’s actually helping get an exhibit together right now. Do you want to speak with her?”

He shook his head and said, “No, but I have someone here who does want to speak to her. Can you get her to the phone?”

He heard Godiva say, “Yes, hold on one second.”

As he waited, he hear Yvette say, “I think her eyes almost shot out of their sockets when she saw you, Rich.”

He gave out a slight chuckle when she giggled. He then said, “Who knows, she might want to put a picture of Mojo in her museum.” He had to admit one thing. If he had never seen Mojo before in his life, he would never have believed such a horrible entity ever existed.

Soon, he heard a voice from the vid-phone say, “Hello, are you Richard Cale?”

It had to be Cynthia-Jennifer. He nodded and said, “I take it you are Cynthia.” The girl made a sound of acknowlegdement. He then said, “Good, I have someone here who wishes to speak to you.” He stood and motioned for Jubilee to come to the phone. He felt Yvette take his arm and move him back.

Soon, he heard Jubilee say, “Cyn-Jen, how are you?” He could hear a gasp of shock on the other end, but figured Jubilee needed this time to be unobserved.

He just said, “Maybe we should give her some time to speak, alone.” Everyone he figured got the hint when he heard movement. He then said to Yvette, “Let’s all go head to the bed room and chat in there.” He felt Yvette lead him over there, and after a few moments, he heard the door close. He felt Yvette guide him over to someplace to sit, and they sat down. He finally asked a question that was on his mind. “Can I ask you two what you know about this fight my family has with Apocalypse?”

He waited until Cartier said, “Do you want the good news, or the bad news?”

He didn’t know which he should hear first and said, “You pick, Cartier.”

Cartier just said, “Well, as far back as the history goes, everytime you family has faced off against him, your relative died soon afterwords. I’m guessing that this was due to the fact that none of them were mutants.”

Rich didn’t like the sound of that, and then asked, “I hope that was the bad news.”

He heard Cartier respond by saying, “It was. The good news is this time, he’s scared of you. When I first heard of your parents death, I had a feeling that he was the cause. He’s hoping to fight you when you have no idea what is going on.”

He then heard Yvette say, “So Apocalypse wants to fight Rich now because Rich has no clue about what the family does.” He could tell she was getting upset.

He was surprised when Gabe said, “However, if what Cartier told me on the plane is right, you might be the only person who might be able to defeat him. Your ability might make you his equal, if not his better.” Rich thought about it for a moment. He reflected on what happened with Davis. Davis did always claim about Big Blue, and how this Big Blue wanted him dead. He always wondered why, but now he knew. Apocalypse was afraid of him. He didn’t know how that made him feel, but he wasn’t sure it was a good thing.

He could here some happiness in Yvette’s voice as she said, “You mean to say that Apocalypse might be running scared because of Rich.” I made him feel even better that she had some confidence in him, but there was still an uneasiness. Maybe he was going to succeed in fighting Apocalypse, but he felt he was going to lose a battle soon.

He then heard Cartier say, “That maybe the case. When ever the battle has happened, Apocalypse has always appeared to your family, but right now, he’s trying to avoid the confrontation. He might even bring you to the fight, not bring the fight to you.”

None of the words were comforting, but he had to deal with it. He then said, “So what you are saying is that someday soon, Apocalypse will try to kidnap me in hopes he will catch me off guard and kill me.”

He then heard Gabe say, “That and probably make sure you’re the last of your family.” He didn’t like the sound of that, and by the way Yvette had tightened her hand around his, she didn’t like the sound of it earlier.

Again, he need to reflect on it more, and he also felt a yawn escape from his mouth. He just said, “Yvette, what time is it?” He was feeling tired, and needed rest.

He then heard his wife say, “It’s going on 10 PM. You’ve all been talking for a few hours.” He had to admit, it did feel like hours, with the dinner and such, plus with the nightmare from the previous night.

He then said, “Well, we all might want to turn in then. If Jubilee hasn’t left, you might want to tell her to leave. I’d be surprised though if she is still talking to Cyn-Jen.” He knew Godiva took time to set up her exhibits, but even she knew when to call it a day. Besides, he was hoping he could get a better nights sleep this night. Tomorrow, he had a feeling, would be very busy.

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