The Hard Way: Part Two

by Sascha Morgan

part the second: fight

They have done this before.

She can tell by the way Ororo-with-the-red-eyes and Kit-lookalike position themselves on either side of Jono-creature, flanking him, waiting. It has been obvious from the beginning that Jono-creature is in charge. If she can manage to take him down, if necessary, kill, perhaps the other two will back off.

She searches in her memory for her Jono's weaknesses, looking for a weapon.

Mindwipe. The first thing Emma taught her, way back when the world made sense, or at least pretended to. She is not sure exactly when the shifts began. They happened so slowly in the beginning. Minute like. Unnoticable. Then one day she suddenly found herself making her way through a desert, having seen Paige disappear in front of her eyes seconds ago. It seems like ages ago the world made sense, but she isn't sure it has even been a year.

Her Jono had never been skilled at the art of mindwiping people or protecting himself against it.

Monet looks at the creature of burning psionic energy standing in front of her, 'head' turned towards Kit. Is it even possible to mindwipe such a being?

~Blood. Have a blast,~ Jono-creature says, and she can hear the glee in his voice. He is enjoying this. Feasting on the terror. Like Marius, but instead of craving the marrow of mutants in order to survive, Jono-creature craves terror. Fear.

She hasn't thought of her brother in a while now. When she tries to picture his face in her mind, she finds she can't. It startles her, shocks her. Is she forgetting? Will she wake up one day, or enter another shift, and discover that she cannot remember her family anymore?

Blood goes misty and drifts over to Kit. Her face, when she solidifies again, looks almost thoughtful, pondering. Kit eyes her varily, keeping her guard up. She's not going out without a fight. Something makes Monet believe that these twisted creatures might prefer it that way. It is much more fun for the predators when the prey fights back.

/Well, then,/ she thinks, gathering her strength. /Who am I to disappoint?/

She hits Jono-creature with her telepathy. He staggers slightly, smiles at her, she can sense him smiling, and pulls her into the alpha plane. So many voices... And they are her and she are them and they are him and he are them and it blends and bleeds and changes. She cannot fight him here.

There are colours without names, shapes without meaning, a piercing tone flowing through it all, slightly sour. She can't shape it anymore. Can't make it do what she wants it to.

He does not try to attack her, she notices with some surprise when some time has past. Why is that? Can he not fight here either? Then why did he pull her over? Monet realises that she has forgotten about the Kit-lookalike. Her body is defenceless now, with her mind gone... She pulls desperately away from the connection between her and Jono-creature, trying to sever the shining cord that keeps them both locked together at the alpha plane.

Jono-creature's astral representation laughs at her. He looks like her Jono dressed all in black and with a whole body. It disturbs her, makes her wonder where her Jono is now. If he's still alive. He was, the last time she saw him.

Jono, Gaia and herself... The last surviving students of the Massachussetts academy. It is still not quite real.  But it is, and she could be dying, could be dying, dying...! The cord shatters and she's back in her body again.

She opens her eyes and is blinded by a bright light.

Then it's all gone.

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