The Enemy Within: Part One - Schism

[x-juggernaut.livejournal.com]

Tuesday morning, Cain makes a quick supply run into town. Separately, Haller and Moira decide to show Kevin around Salem Center. The four of them meet up at a gas station on the way back to the school, and the addition of a fifth begins a chain reaction that begins to break down the unbreakable.



Cain pulled the truck into the parking lot of the gas station, turning the key off with a snap of his wrist. The gas tank was still three-quarters full, and the supplies in the bed of the truck would stay there for the few minutes it would take to grab some snacks for the afternoon baseball game.

The bell rang twice as Cain entered the station, not earning more than a second glance from the proprietor. The middle-aged man had grown accustomed to the seven-foot Marko stopping by now and then for a case of beer and a few bags of potato chips. As Cain perused the cooler, he waved automatically to the others as they walked inside.

Spotting Cain's truck at the gas station, Moira glanced over at the car's own tank of gas. They could do with making a quick stop to fill up--it would certainly make those that ran the garage much happier--and she could pick up a few drinks without having to hit the grocery run.

"Jus' pull in for a wee moment?" she told Jim and once they had stopped, they in the front and Kevin in the back, Moira slid out and headed inside.

"Did you want to get anything before we go back? A soda or something?" Jim asked the newest student as he unbuckled his seatbelt to go fill the tank. "Don't let Moira hear me say this, but if you like any kind of junkfood at all this is probably your best shot. Stuff like that goes pretty fast, and while the kitchenstaff is good about providing regular meals sometimes it's nice to have something you can just grab out of your room."

Kevin was deeply interested in the back of his hand, eyes narrowed as he focused on his gloves. Dressed in his usual black attire covering almost every inch of skin, Kevin felt like he was melting, but didn't comment on it.

"Um, I guess." He replied lamely.

Jim gave the boy an encouraging grin. Dragging Kevin out on errands with him and Moira was probably unfair, but considering his history Jim thought the young man could use the opportunity to look around Salem Center in an atmosphere a little less stressful than the normal "kidnapped by a large group of other students" introduction. Being stuck in a car with two strange adults wasn't the most comfortable position for a teenager, especially one in a new and strange place, but if Kevin was still having problems with his mutation there were worse people to spend time with than the student counselor and the school's powers-expert.

"If you don't have your wallet on you, just ask Moira," Jim suggested quietly as the boy climbed out of the back of the car. "She'll probably try to buy you something anyway, so you might as well be proactive about it. It can be a little scary. Not that Moira doesn't have money to burn, but when she took me out when I was her patient I'd always worry about looking at things too long in case she started getting ideas."

Moira glanced back over her shoulder at the two, watching Kevin with a concerned eye. She’d been pleased that he came along on the trip into town but hadn’t been wanting to rush him or push him. Still, she’d found out about his love of art and she and Jim had made plans on stopping by a local art supply store on the way back as a nice surprise.

Ducking her head into the store, she smiled when she spotted Cain. “At least yer easy ta find,” she called out.

Cain waved with one hand, tossing a large bag of tortilla chips over the aisle into a cart with the other. "Hey!" he called back, noticing Haller walking towards the store to pre-pay for the gas. "Shit, if I'd've known you all were going to be out and about, I'd've drafted you to help load the lumber into the truck, instead of doing all the grunt work myself. Couldn't even grab a Jamie this morning."

"Sorry," Jim replied with an apologetic grin, "Moira had dibs." Moving to the register with his hand on his own wallet, Jim noted the well-dressed elderly gentleman standing down the isle was tall enough to look him directly in the eyes. Nathan aside, these days Jim rarely met anyone tall enough to do that.

The telepath fell into line and shifted his gaze to the contents of his wallet. Mutual height was no reason to stare. Something about the stranger was naggingly familiar, though. Something about the profile, the broad, square jaw . . . Jim shook his head slightly and extracted his credit card.

Moira snorted at Cain as she eyed the calorie label on the back of a bag of chocolate. Deciding that it really didn’t matter what the little label said, she turned to look over her shoulder. “Tha’s precisely th’ reason I dinnae say anythin’, I would ‘ave ended up wanderin’ around th’ Home Depot lookin’ verra lost,” she teased.

Turning to peer over the aisle, she asked Kevin, “Do you see anythin’ ye want?” She studiously ignored Jim’s snickering.

Kevin trailed behind Moira, glancing around the store, trying to decide what he could get with the minimum amount of cash in his pocket. The group ran into that big guy--what was his name again?--and Moira and Haller struck up conversation. Kevin kept silent and took interest in the bottles of soda off to the side.

He snagged an orange one off the shelf gesturing to it, wordlessly answering Moira's question. "I've got money." He added, thinking back to what Haller had said earlier. Cain nodded to Moira, absently noting the kid that had come in with Haller. One of those weird ones, he thought, dressing all in black with the temperature creeping higher day by day. He shrugged and crouched down, inspecting the types of salsa.

A series of small pops one aisle over went almost unheard as inside their packages, household lightbulbs began to crack and shatter, though completely untouched. Down the aisle from Cain, the older gentleman Haller had noticed took a step towards the giant groundskeeper.

Grimacing, Cain coughed roughly, clapping a hand to his chest. "Whoa..." he groaned, dropping to a knee as his face began to redden. "That ain't... right..."

The series of soda bottles exploding right next to her distracted Moira for a second as she threw up her hands as protection for a rain of Diet Pepsi. When she looked up and spotted Cain doubled over on his knee, she cursed.

"Cain? Bloody hell..." Dodging through the aisles as she made her way, she noted someone on the other side of him down the aisle but Cain was her immediate worry. Jim could get everyone else out and call the mansion.

Jim caught the movement just as the all the snackboxes around Cain simultaneously compressed as if stomped on by an unseen foot. There was a series of dull explosions as the soda cans in the refridgerator along the back wall began to burst, contents spattering wetly against glass door. Above them the flourescent lights began to flicker in a crazed strobe, and suddenly Jim's breath was being crushed out by blind, unreasoning panic as he stumbled back against the counter:

No NO it's not me it's not me!

Cain struggled to lift his head, vision blurring around the edges, everything starting to go red. All he could hear was the sound of his own heart, beating like a jackhammer in his chest.

Next to him, the elderly man stopped, standing amidst the sudden random patterns of destruction in the service station, his wool suit untouched. Looking from Cain to Kevin, then over to Moira, and finally Haller - he opened his mouth.

To say he spoke would be a misconception. No voice on earth, human or otherwise, carried with it the sound of a bonfire, the timbre of an avalanche, and the quiet fury of a supernova all in a few short syllables.

"I cannot be stopped," he said in a bass voice that shook plaster from the walls.

The shadow of old horrors was completely obliterated as a wave of pure, all-consuming fury tore across the astral plane like an inferno, so intense Jim could feel it even through layers of trauma-scarred defenses. Power greater than Charles', greater than the one that had scored the sky above Ushuaia. Vast and inhuman, every movement blistering flame. The telepath gasped and fell back, paralyzed as he watched the older man clutch the face of the younger with a hand of burning bones wrapped in age-spotted skin and bend low to whisper in Cain's ear -- displaying his own, a swollen cauliflower of flesh.

Just like Cain's.

Great, just great, not only was Cain looking like he was having a heart attack, Jim looked like someone had sucker punched him...and now there was a very creepy old man hovering over Cain. She'd have to deal with the younger man in a minute, though.

"Kevin, call th' mansion!" she snapped over her shoulder, fairly positive he would have been given one of the phones that all the kids got. Turning her attention back to Cain, she finally reached his side and gave the other man a level look. "Excuse me, can ye move back, please, I'm 'is doctor an' 'e needs air." It was said with an air that spoke volumnes of being used to her orders being followed.

Kevin's heart pounded as he backed up on instinct, nearly crashing into a cardboard display for snackfoods. He dropped his soda bottle on the floor and began a furious search for the phone that he been given. Pants pocket? No. Coat pocket? No. Inner Coat Pocket...? Yes!

He flipped open the phone, pressing the speed dial for the mansion. "What am I supposed to tell them?" He shouted over to Moira.

Very calmly, because while this situation was unique but emergancies were not, Moira explained, "Tell them we're 'avin' an emergancy wit' Cain at this location, dinnae worry 'bout gettin' it exactly correct, they'll find us."

Cain reached out suddenly with one hand, grabbing the hem of Moira's shirt. "Need to... move..." He lurched to his feet, knocking over the shelf of snacks next to him, his other hand reaching out -

- the older man caught Cain's large hand in both of his, and the world seemed to stop.

#Moira!# The telepathic scream of warning came a split-second too late. In his mind's eye Jim watched from against the counter as the last semblence of the stranger's humanity sheered away, completely vaporized by the massive explosion of power. Bones burned white-hot through skin, a skeletal mockery of human form draped over a mass of roiling crimson flame. For an instant the world was enveloped in deafening silence -- and then the physical shockwave of the contact sent everything around the men hurtling backwards. Including Moira and Kevin.

Flat on his back, Cain opened his eyes. The service station floor looked like a bomb had gone off. He sat up, coughing lightly. David seemed to be stirring, and Moira and the kid were both already getting up. "Holy shit, anyone get the number of that truck...?" he mumbled, glancing around. Other than the proprietor, who was just starting to peek over the counter after the conflagration - the four of them were the only people in the place.

Shaking dust and food from her hair as she stumbled to her feet, Moira stared around her. "Kevin, are ye alright?" she asked but she saw him slowly getting to his feet. One look at Jim told her all that she needed to know, they would need to have some private time much later. "Cain? Jesus..."

Moira stumbled over to where he was sitting up and crouched down next to him, one hand going to check his heart. "We need ta get ye back ta th' Mansion, now."

Cain absently swatted at Moira's hand. "I'm fine. What in the hell happened here?"

With an irritated scowl, she swatted back. "Jus' let me check yer damned vitals," she growled. "An' I've nay got the foggiest idea. We come in an' then ye're doublin' over in pain, there's some creepy old man standin' around ye an' then we're knocked flat on our asses. We need ta get ye back ta th' mansion now."

Kevin pulled himself up, avoiding fallen objects that had been scattered by the blast. He eyed Cain, standing an obvious distance from the larger man. Kevin had a strong desire to get back to the mansion, or anywhere really. Anywhere that wasn't in the store and it was preferable if that 'anywhere' was a great distance away.

He crossed his arms over his chest, as if trying to protect himself. "Yeah, can we leave now?"

Jim barely heard the exchange as he stared at the wreckage of the devastated convenience store. Bile rose in the back of his throat. Out. Oh god get us out. Of here. I need to be out. Now now now.

"Yeah, lets," Jim said distantly, levering himself to his feet. He looked over towards Kevin, the movement jerky and disconnected. "Are you okay?"

Cain nodded, looking over at the proprietor. "Call the school, ask for me," he said with a tone of apology. "I'll set this right."

Glaring at Moira, who kept pressing her hands to his neck, Cain stood up suddenly. "Said I'm feeling fine, let's just head home."

"I just want to leave." Kevin replied uneasily. Wasn't this place supposed to be a safe haven for mutants? Not an explosion-in-stores-and-you-go-flying type thing? How often did these sort of things happen? Kevin felt a little queasy. He eyed the door longingly.

Matching him glare for glare while she kept an eye on him, Moira muttered under her breath, "'ha's wha' they all say" and followed him out, making sure not to leave Kevin behind. As much as Cain might grumble, she'd set one of them in the truck with him, just in case.

Cain felt Haller step into stride beside him as he headed for the truck. Rolling his eyes, he refrained from protesting - Moira was liable to herd him into the infirmary as soon as they pulled in, anyway.

"Buckle the hell up and shut up," Cain said before David could even open his mouth. "I said I'm fine and I don't want to talk about it."