Somme Battlefield, Northern France
Alexandra hovered over the old battlefield in the darkness just before dawn. The ground below was pitted and scared from the battle of 1916; the farmlands of the Somme river were still riddled with metal shards from the war of a bygone era. This place, not far from Paris and her beloved Hellfire Club, would be the scene of yet another battle. Her blue eyes glimmered under furrowed brows as the White Queen ran strategies through her keen mind. A soft crunch of grass alerted her to the presence of her likeness. Jean stepped beside her, saying nothing, gazing at the pale beauty. He could sense her fears, her doubts, her pride. They were connected, body and soul, and her knight in shinning armour would die to protect her.
After a moment of reflective quietness, she finally broke the silence. "Are my girls safe?"
Dr. Quentin nodded. "Scorn is guarding them back in their psychic chamber. You know he wants to fight with you."
"What he wants is to kill Andres. That is not my goal. I killed him once, but I would sooner have him live with the knowledge of my triumph." Her gloved hand balled into a fist. The cool, moist morning air steamed as the breeze brushed gently past her abnormally hot skin.
Jean's nose twitched as he sniffed the air. He recognized the deep red of her lip, the flush of pink in her cheeks. "You drank blood..."
The White Queen snapped back. "Of course I did. I can tell by your unusually calm nature you did as well. Human blood. This will be war, Jean. Blood will be spilled. Fulfill your nature and gorge yourself on the demise of our enemies." Her eyes glimmered red.
"I'm here to protect you, Xandra. I intend to contribute to violence as little as possible." He paused before continuing. "And your viciousness is not what it once was. I can feel a softening in your heart even as you seek to harden it. You feel love, a compassion for your daughters, your students. You could have easily killed the sedated pyrokinetic in your care, drained her fully of her super powered blood, but you opted only for a taste to sustain you."
The woman's lids narrowed over her icy blue eyes.
"I will do what is necessary to win."
Her gaze fell over the fields.
"Selene will guard the school and the students in my absence. I pray my adversaries will have the decency to leave them out of it. The Triune will attempt to combat the telepathic force of the Black Queen and keep those of us open to their thoughts mentally connected should one front need support. Should the Red Queen honour her allegiance, she will be a formidable mystical power Andres and his pets will be hard pressed to counter. From there, it could be reduced to a superpowered brawl, each one on his own. Who knows how the pieces will fall?"
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Beneath the Hellfire Club; Paris, France
Three female voices in unison spoke in her mind. "We've summoned your forces. Your support is here, Dr. Steele." The telepathic triplets sat in their chamber, hidden deep within the bowels of the Hellfire Club. Scorn locked down the elevator to their location and stood within the circular metal structure. "Great. The pool boy is our body guard." The girls mocked.
"I don't want to be here either, but Xandra didn't want to leave you alone." He checked the ammo in his assault rifle, additional magazines and his usual knives in his belt. "But I'm a bast--d to kill, and she wanted someone she could trust. Just a precaution. We don't have to be able to read each other's minds to know we'd rather be on the field fighting with the good doctor." Unbeknownst to the children of Q, the triplets sent out a psychic message to the students of the Hellfire Academy to join in the assault.
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The sun began to rise as if it had been summoned on queue to reveal the gathering forces as she felt their approach. The mist rolled in around the psionic vampires as the hot sun met the cold night air. The darkness began it's retreat. Her ruby red lips parted, drawing in a breath. "And so it begins..."
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