The 10th Kingdom - The Triads

[x-sanfuaiyaa.livejournal.com]

Remy, Shiro, Amanda, and Betsy track down Marie and find her . . . but not as herself.


In a way, it made sense for them to track down their quarry to a district outside of both Chinatown and Japantown. It made it that much harder for some errant gangster to find the Triad and try to attack them. Luckily for Remy and the others, they had a quick and easy guide. They'd followed Amanda's spell to a theater in Union Square which had been under renovation for the last five years now. Shiro for one was all in favor of just bursting in, katana a'swinging. But he crushed that impulse and waited for Remy's command.

The theater was old and brick, obviously one of those palace style ones from the Twenties. That wasn't good. It meant that there would be few points of entry, all easily controlled. Trap? Without a doubt, Remy considered. Still, their options were limited. Betsy's contacts had flagged it as a Triad house, and it was the only one in the area that Amanda's spell had pointed them to. He had made a quick circuit and had Shiro take a look at the roof before coming to the conclusion that their choices were limited.

"Our options are de front door and de back door, and we know dat both are guarded. I'm not seeing a clever way to do dis." There were times when the raw power of the X-Men would have been useful. "So I'm up for bricking our way in. Hit de front like lightning. Maybe we can roll dem back fast enough to get Marie and get out."

"Right," Betsy groused. "Glad to see you're staying optimistic about this 'cause I'm thinking this is going to south the moment we knock on that door."

Amanda winced. She hated it when they did that. Especially when she wasn't so much a brick as a pebble. "No roof access?" she asked, hopefully.

"No less obvious than simply going in through the front," Shiro replied. His hand fell to the cardboard tube that sat strapped to his waist. He opened it, revealing his sheathed katana and replaced the tube with that. It might be overly dramatic to fight Chinese people with a traditional Japanese weapon, but he figured that conjuring a storm of fire in close quarters would be more harmful than the Triads themselves. "Ready when you are."

"Alright. Betts, give us some static. Shiro, you're behind me. 'manda, you're behind him. No one stops moving until I do." Remy reached into his jacket and pulled out a deck of cards. Once he received the nod from Betsy, he began loping forward easily towards the front. As he approached, his hands flickered out, and both doors collapsed inward, their hinges blown clear off from the kinetic charges. The guards in the front were looking blank, caught in Betsy's psionic hold as Remy sped past them, clearing the inner doors as well.

Speed was the essence as he reached the lobby area, leaving a trail of small explosions from the rapidly depleting deck of cards. The doors ahead of him had two guards out front, who hadn't been reached by Betsy's power. One went down as he was trying to raise his gun, a card breaking his nose and smashing him brutally against the wall. The other Remy used his momentum to crash into. The impact knocked the doors wide open, and LeBeau carried his rush through, pivoting to drop the second guard as he did so.

Guns. She loathed guns. Amanda's shielding spell flickered into life as she smartly clapped her hands together. There was no surprise at the slightly rainbow-edged tints in the glow. She wasn't positive she could stop a bullet with this thing, but experiments had shown the spell was a lot more resistant to metal than the previous incarnation. And given Remy and Betsy were working on the alert guards, it was down to someone to make sure the dazed ones were out of the picture - an elbow strike to the temple sent the one closest to her crumpling, and she glanced across at Shiro, hoping he'd gotten the other one.

A series of quick jabs to the face, fists sheathed in red fire, downed the remaining guard, and Shiro followed Remy and Betsy into the theater. Which looked more like a set from a Chow Yun Fat movie than any theater he'd ever seen. Wooden pillars lining either side of the room led up to a dais at the other end, upon which sat a throne decorated with mythological beasts and mystical symbols. Another set of thugs, these ones dressed in the garb of imperial guards but packing heat, stood in front of the dais.

"Well, I think we can safety say dat dis place is Triad." Remy said dryly. There was a bustle of movement behind screens and pillars, and men began to emerge, armed with everything from fighting irons to automatic pistols. The four mutants tightened up as the mob encircled them closely. Remy noted the Japanese faces amongst them, twisted with hate and fevour. Finally, a single gong crash rung out in the hall, and the Triad charged.

Shiro's sword snikt'd out of his scabbard, shining even in the dully lit room. "I love cannon fodder," he spat sarcastically, swinging his sword to frighten a trio back. They dodged, and he followed with a roundhouse, his foot spitting out a flaming arc that caught them across the chest and knocked them to the floor. The fronts of their uniforms were smoldered.

Rolling her eyes a little at the dramatics, Amanda concentrated on two things - not letting anyone through to stab her teammates in the back, and not getting skewered, shot or beaten herself. An iron bar skidded off her spell in a shower of sparks, and she winced at the sensation even as she kicked the man soundly in the groin, the shield moving with her. All those lessons with various nasty fighters were definitely helping - Angelo would be proud, she thought with a brief grin, involuntarially ducking as another gang member, this one with a set of numchaku, attacked.

The snap of his staff telescoping was the only sound LeBeau made as they came at him. Lifelong thugs, fighters, even trained martial artists; they didn't know that the fight had been done before they had set foot into the room. As the first man closed, he moved, lashing out with a spray of cards that robbed four men of their guns. Amanda's shielding was good, but Remy didn't want to worry about richocets right now. He went over the first wave, pivoting and spinning with the staff, using it to clear a tight circle of groaning bodies. His spatial awareness blossomed, tracking positions and movements of everyone around him, giving him a clear path to mete out violence inviolate.

Streams of fire followed every move Shiro made, though he forced it to stay close enough to him so as not to ignite the building. But even with these restrictions, every attack kept his opponents too far to even touch him. Even the men with guns wouldn't dare attack through the blinding fire for fear of missing and shooting someone else. Anyone who managed to dance through the flames received their own personal fireball.

Fireballs to the left of me, exploding cards on the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you... Amanda wasn't sure what was worse, the song now stuck in her head and Betsy was liable to kill her now, or the fact there seemed no shortage of Generic Asian Thugs - it was like when Doug got to choose the movies back in school. One man's nose crunched under the heel of her hand as she ducked under his swing, a sharp stomp on his foot bringing him down to a point where she could knee him under the jaw. The scary thing was, she was actually starting to enjoy this.

The violence continued for a few more minutes, but the supply of men ebbed under the vicious defense of the four mutants. As if commanded, the remaining Triad suddenly backed off, retreating from them to take up a defensive position at the walls. The gong sounded again, and in the silence that the deep, sonorous boom left behind, a single thread of slow clapping filled the hall.

"Very impressive, Americans. Very." The voice was dry and amused, Chinese accented and full of self-possession. From the back of the dais, a curtain was draw back, and a man walked out into the open. He was dressed in a rich Pekinese style robe; forest green and embroidered with gold dragons that climbed his arms and chest. He could have been a mature forty or a fresh faced sixty, and his dark eyes watched them carefully. A long mustache, the kind refered to derisively by Americans as a 'Fu-Man-Chu' was capped with gold nibs, that bounced slightly as he spoke. His long fingers ended in talon like nails, richly jeweled, and on each of them was a surprisingly crude-looking iron ring.

"We really are in a Chow Yun Fat movie." Shiro didn't lower his sword, but he relaxed a little. The way this man was dressed simply screamed that he loved dramatics, so he wouldn't attack just yet. At least not until they'd finished trading witty banter. "Who are you supposed to be, and where is Marie?"

"Be silent, eastern devil." The man snapped back at Shiro. There was something chilling in gaze as it reached him; a cold and deep hatred communicated in them. "I can tolerate rudeness from the ignorent barbarians, but not from your kind."

He clapped his hands once, and a group of guards, dressed in traditional outfits came through the screen, surrounding a veiled woman in the middle. "I am the Mandarin, of the 40K Triad. The heir to Qin Shu Hu's legacy." He crossed his hands oddly infront of him, flickering the heavy rings for a moment.

"And of course, my bride," The guards split apart from the woman. "The Lady Mandarin." She reached up and slowly lifted her veil.

The towering headdress from which the red silk veil had been hanging was intricate, flowers and beads woven together in a traditional design. Brown eyes stared out adoringly at the Chinese man as Marie bowed her head to him before her gaze moved to take in the four people clustered together. "You dare to fight my lord's brave warriors? A foolish and futile task." The Southern girl's drawl had disappeared, replaced by a lilting Chinese accent. Holding out her bare hand, one of the guards handed her a jiàn while two others removed the headdress.

"Well, bugger me sideways..." Amanda's stunned voice broke the solemn silence as only a broad London accent can. "Marie, mate, I know you had a thing for older men with dodgy ethics at one point, but this is some serious fucking backsliding."

"I am not Marie," the brunette replied with a sneer. "I am the Lady Mandarin and you would do well to learn to address me as such." Taking a step closer, but not yet advancing on the group, she adjusted her hold on the hilt of the jiàn. "You of course have the opportunity to avoid bloodshed by bowing to my lord and offering your services, but something tells me you will pose more of a challenge than that."


Shiro's grasp on his own sword tightened. A mind-controlled super-strong and invulnerable opponent who just happened to be a friend. He didn't like being on the other side of this kind of conflict. "Any ideas on how to snap her out of this?"

Amanda shook her head, eyes on her friend. This was just so bizarre... "Nothing yet. But at least we know what those marks were - looks like we're looking at some sort of mind-control magic..." She glanced over at Betsy. "Mind control's your area more 'n mine. I work on the magic, you work on the mind part?"

"You seem to be forgetting de part where while trying to do dat, she pulls off you heads." Remy said. He knew first hand just how dangerous Marie could be. He closed up his staff. It wasn't going to help against her. "Shiro, we need to buy some time. You wit' me. 'manda, Betts, try to make dis work before she kills us."

Remy walked forward, three cards glowing in his hand. "Lady Mandarin, neh? Since when did cheap Triad coolies get jumped up to de Imperal court? Shouldn't you and de white bitch be unloading a cargo ship full of bananas right 'bout now?"

The Mandarin's gaze froze. "My Lady, kill that one. Now."

Without a word, Marie flew forward, aiming her sword at Remy's throat, a scowl on her face as he maneuvered out of the way. She quickly recovered and advanced on him, sword flashing out, as she thrust it at his chest.

And then Shiro was there, deflecting her sword with his. It was no easy feat, and he was sure that had she attacked at her full strength, then his blade would have snapped in half, and for that matter so would have Remy. But he didn't think on it much, and took advantage of the distraction he'd caused to press on her, accentuating every other swipe and jab with a fireball.

For her part, Amanda retreated a little, back to the relative safety of one of the large pillars lining the room. Think Sefton, think! she berated herself, trying to recall everything she knew about mind control spells. If they didn't have a way to counter this soon, it was entirely possible none of them were getting out of this one - if Shiro and Remy couldn't hold Marie back, Amanda herself wouldn't stand much of a chance.

Marie barely took notice of the blonde's retreat, focusing her attention on the man the Mandarin had ordered her to kill and the one standing in her way. The fireballs barely garnered her attention, though her red satin dress began to fray from the heat. Scowling at Shiro, she raised her sword and struck his hard enough that his hands probably hurt from the reverberation. "You would do well to get out of my way. It might prolong your life, if only by a few moments." Slicing at him again with her sword, she leaped and twisted through the air over him, landing in front of Remy. Her empty fist flashed out to strike at the Cajun's face, while her right foot aimed a kick directly at his kneecap.

Remy, seemingly against all sense, stepped into the attack. The kick just missed, passing to the side of his knee. With one hand, he grabbed her ankle, and with the other, flicked all three cards at her eyes. The blow didn't hurt her, but her natural reaction to flinch away when her eyes were threatened left her off-balance. Remy exploited that, shifting her leg further up, and driving a foot into the side of her other knee. She went down, helped along by his wrenching of her leg.

He followed her down, hammering away at the nerve cluster on her side, trying to paralyze the arm. The fact was that if Marie was able to land a blow, it would be over. Remy focused on leverage and precision strikes, avoiding her superhuman strength and invulnerability by bypassing it. Marie didn't land a blow, but was able to grab a handful of his jacket, and ripped him away with brutal force. Remy actually skipped off the wood floor twice before he hit the pillar. He'd tumbled the whole way, bleeding off some of the killing speed, but the force of the impact still stole the breath from his lungs.

#Nice distraction# Betsy sent to Remy with a wink just as she slipped gracefully behind Marie. Her right fist pulled back as the sizzle of psychic energy coalesced into her psi-blade. And then Lady Braddock proceeded to slam her fist down deeply into the back of Marie's occipital lobe, so hard that her knuckles grazed the scalp. Skin on skin. A sacrifice to be played out on the mindscape.

~*~

Shiro and Remy continue their assault, while Amanda protects Betsy, who delves deep into Marie's psyche to free her.


It was a stark shift. A whiplash jarring difference that left the walls melting and bringing Betsy and Marie in someplace entirely alien. "This your idea of a holiday? I'd insist they work on the decor myself," Betsy gave a sly smile, a sideways look around her surroundings and took a step forward and bowed. She brought her sword up to her face as she gestured respectfully before spreading her legs and taking her fighting stance. "If you want me.....come and get me."

Marie's face remained impassive, noting the change in environment with only the most casual of glances. "You will be sorry you crossed my lord, but I will teach you the error of your ways." The Southern girl's accent was absent, a continuance of the Chinese lilt she'd spoken with in the actual world existing on the psionic plane. Marie bowed before taking a stance of her own, swinging her sword at the purple haired woman.

"I am filled with utter desolation at the thought," Betsy said with a wink. She then raised her katana blade over her head and brought it seeringly close to Marie's head. "And I will remain bereft while I drag your carrion soul out of my friend."

Marie's eyes narrowed as she glared at the woman across from her, moving her blade to block Betsy's. "There is no her. There is only the Lady Mandarin." Spinning, Marie aimed her blade at Betsy's throat, intent on killing the other woman.

A flicker of displeasure crossed the Mandarin's face as his bride fell. He snapped his fingers, and the Triad members began to close again. "They have disrespected your Lady, my brothers. The filthy quoi-lau and the devil from the Eastern Lands. Bring me their heads."

"I am getting tired of hearing dat, Shiro. Remy going to shut de batard up. Can you hold dis line?" LeBeau said, unsnapping his staff as he addressed the younger man.

"And I'm getting tired of being forgotten about," Amanda mock-grumbled, even as she stepped forward. Her hands outstretched on either side of her, she cast the shielding spell, its light shimmering with white-edged hues, reminiscent of the fort guarding the bay that was now a youth hostel. It took effort - San Francisco was too open, too relaxed in its energy to maintain a shield like the one in China, but she gritted her teeth and pushed it outwards until Betsy and Marie were safe inside its environs. There. Let these bastards hurt them now.

The air around Shiro glimmered, his powers distorting the light. "Double your fee if you do it in fifteen seconds," he offered. "On your mark."

"Homme, even dat salope can't afford me." Remy took two steps and vaulted into the air. He came down feet first on the shoulder of a Triad, kicking down and breaking both of his collarbones, as Remy used the push to somersault on to the dais. A card flickered out as he landed, but the Mandarin crossed his hands almost casually, and the bolt flared and died against a shield.

"You honestly think that I would be stupid enough to leave myself open to attack?"

"Non, but I did hope dat would be de case." Remy's staff lunged, and was parried by a glimmering green lion-headed sword that formed out of the energy around his hands.
"This will be a short dance, assassin."

"Because you did not choreograph your backup dancers," Shiro quipped. He parried a swipe of a jian with his katana and twisted to avoid another, sending out two bursts of plasma with his free hand to knock them back. Another attacker came at him, but he jumped and landed behind him, and knocked him out with a flaming kick to the back that sent him crashing into a column.

Options were limited. Betsy let the tensions she felt bunching in her shoulders slide out of her like water, fluid and ever-moving. She could maim this thing, this Lady Mandarin here but even in this astral landscape, Marie's visage would be wounded. She turned her head to avoid another bold attempt at detaching her head from her neck and the thought hit her as steel sliced air scant millimeters from her face.

In this place, she still wasn't facing the being behind all this. No, she faced the person, the innocent stupidly left exposed in a mindscape with a telepath. Betsy felt the battle turning in her favor. This was going to take some skill. So, she pulled her left hand back and swung hard, connecting to what felt like skin and bone but knew better. It was a desperate blow, one to give distance, time to regroup. And as the plan in her head started coalescing, Betsy grimaced again. Damn, this was going to hurt. A lot.

Marie snarled, reeling from the blow and taking a step backwards to adjust. Falling into a crouch, she spat at Betsy. "Bitch. You will regret that action. I originally planned to kill you quickly and ease your suffering. Now I will make it last and take pleasure in your pain, to teach you what happens to those who cross my lord." The sadistic grin on Marie's face was unlike anything that had ever previously crossed the girl's face.

"Promises, promises," Betsy heaved. Her chest rising and falling with forced control. Calm, be calm. The telepath closed her eyes and opened them an eerie glow surrounding her. "You should know, I don't do submissive, missionary. Or anything else for that matter that relies on me taking it lying down." Dark tendrils reached from the ground where Betsy stood and were swiftly moving toward her opponent. "So, this will be anything but quick."

Marie began laughing as the tendrils drew closer, leaping to twist and avoid the flashes of dark, sword flashing out to slice through them. Landing, she bowed to Betsy, her tone growing mocking and derisive. "Is that the best you can do?" She spun her blade lazily through the air, her guard dropping slightly as her self assurance grew. "It will take far more to tame the Lady Mandarin than some paltry fog."

"I'm sure," Betsy said unaffected. "Then why don't you come here and prove your superior vastness and my apparent ineptness." She knelt down and looked up expectantly at her foe. "I'll even make it easy for you. One death blow in here and you'll win. You'll kill me, mind and spirit and gain the satisfaction of having others watch another warrior fall at your feet without lifting a hand in the real world."

Marie shook her head, face growing "I had been looking forward to a challenge. I suppose it was too much to ask for." Advancing on Betsy, Marie let her sword swing loose in her hand. "I do not think I will even need to use the blade," she said with a sigh, before aiming a kick at the telepath's head.

Betsy closed her eyes, exhaled as she moved her head to the side and felt the wind whistle by her ear as the blow missed her by a scant margin. She felt her body move, sinews twisting as she brought her blade up and tore through the manifestation of flesh. A slight wound to the shoulder but more than anything something to bring emotions into the forefront, to anger the lazy dragon and to tempt the devil.

And anger was indeed the response as Marie's eyes flashed with rage. "You will not do that again, you whore." Darting forward quickly, she backhanded Betsy, her ungloved hand an oddity even for a psychic manifestation. She quickly brought up her sword arm, swinging the hilt of the blade at Betsy's temple.

Remy found himself hard pressed to keep up the pressure on the Mandarin. The man was no match for LeBeau's speed or his spatial awareness, but that didn't impair him in the slightest. He seemed to be able to control the energy around his hands, shields morphing into weapons or into energy bolts. It wasn't unlike fighting Wisdom, knowing that the hotknife could come from anywhere at any time. Remy blocked a sword strike with his staff, but the weapon morphed suddenly into a hook spear, and pulled the staff from his hands. The Mandarin laughed as he swiped at Remy's neck.

"You challenge eight thousand years of will focused in my hands, fool." The Mandarin swiped again, but Remy rolled forward, only missing losing his head by an inch. He slashed up with a pair of cards, and reached through the explosion. Mandarin's shield had blocked the blow, but he had immediately shifted to a weapon to attack the vulnerable Cajun. Remy's hand shot up snake quick. He grabbed and twisted, snapping four of the Mandarin's fingers with one deft twist.

The Mandarin didn't cry out, but he did retreat, clutching his injured hand.

Shiro swiped his sword and channeled plasma down the length of the blade, releasing an arc of solar fare that burned clear through half a dozen uniforms and left blackened skin underneath. May not be so good for the blade, but it had its intended effect of keeping them off Shiro. He readied himself for another blast when an explosion to his right distracted him.

When the dust settled, he saw only Remy sitting there. Shiro smirked and sheathed his katana, and then conjured up his fire form. The flames danced, licking his body hungrily, echoing Shiro's readiness to burn everyone to a crisp. His smirk was visible as a flash of red beneath the fiery mantle.

"You're lucky I like you," Betsy fell back and twisted her upper torso, bringing her legs up and behind her. Her body seemingly twisting uncomfortably as she tried to avoid the blade. Her voice changed as well. Higher by an octave. Younger. Looking up from their crouched position was no longer Elisabeth Braddock but a young Native American girl. "Very, very lucky," she heaved right as the tip of the sword connected to her torso.

"Like has nothing to do with it," Marie said, the barest hesitation as the sword pierced Dani's skin. "An interesting parlor trick, but do you really think that will stop me? You may be a sentimental fool, but the Lady Mandarin has no such fault."

"I am not counting on your sentimentality, no." Betsy said as she stood carefully from her position, sword in hand. She brought it up and took her stance. Blood stained steel seem to glow fiery purple before it flickered and stopped entirely. "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Come and finish me like you've promised or am I proving too much of a challenge?"

Marie's upper lip lifted in a snarl, as her blade danced out to hit Betsy's. Though strike after strike were blocked by the purple haired telepath, the Lady Mandarin's anger kept the strikes coming as she and Betsy moved around the mindscape the telepath had developed, scant detail as the two women continued the battle.

And as the internal battle waged on, Betsy forced a loud grunt as she fought back another blow and pushed back again but instead of charging, she fell to her knees as the image of Doug now holding the katana looked back up at Mandarin. But the incarnation continued on with her blows, relentless just as another wound cut through his forearm, Doug cried out. "Em."

The sword quickly pulled back, Marie gasped as she took a step or two backwards until her eyes hardened again. "A dangerous game you are playing here," the Lady Mandarin's voice said threateningly as she her sword sliced through the air at Doug's chest.

This time, her sword connected with gray ashen skin that took a powerful blow to the thigh. Skin that seemed to sag and stretch from pain weakly trying to back and away from the sword's blade. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Skin?" Marie said, her steps faltering as she withdrew the blade. "No," her voice said, growing firm again. "I control this vessel and your paltry tricks will not stop me. The Lady Mandarin stops for no one."

Angelo's image swirled as he slowly rose from his prone position. "And I control this one," Betsy's voice boomed in the mindscape. The whispers emanating from the shadows growing louder, painful, but they were still incoherent. Rising voices that sounded more like the gust of high winds then angry voices speaking out. "Do you hear your victims, Lady Mandarin? I am here to exact retribution for each life you have taken."

A sword swooped down from behind Marie's head as the image of Angelo disappeared.

"Their lives were meaningless until they were able to serve the cause," Marie said with a sneer as she twisted to the right, foot extending to kick Betsy's gut, as the sword sliced through the empty air where her head had been. "The Mandarin works to unite people for the good of China," Marie continued, her voice taking on a reverent tone. "All lives are sacrifice to further the creation of the true Middle Kingdom."

"The Middle Kingdom?" Betsy threw back, angrily. "You're deluded! The entire time we've been in here I could've killed you at any moment. Funny that with a cursory thought, I could easily wiped you from this Earth and they'd be nothing left of you or your fucking legacy." Betsy said with a darkened gleam to her face and then brought her sword up to block a downward blow. "But of course, that wouldn't have been any fun."

"If you could've done that, you would've by now," Marie sneered, spinning to aim a hit at Betsy's gut while lashing out with her foot to strike the woman in the knees. "You cannot leave this place any easier than I right now. The girl's powers have you trapped just as you have trapped me."

"Perhaps," she heaved. Betsy blocked but her arm slipped and she knew what would happen before she felt steel cut through soft flesh. Her body bowed back just as she fell back, now a girl younger in her years with dark black locks jaggedly cut - looked up in shock at the blade in her stomach. "Marie?" Amanda croaked. "What the fuck is this?"

Marie's assurance dropped and she pulled out the blade, a wet noise accompanying the action, the blade glistening red. Her brown eyes flashed and for a moment she seemed ready to drop the sword. The moment passed and her eyes again grew hard and unyielding. "Foolish woman. A nice attempt, but my lord is not beaten so easily. Give up and offer your services to him and perhaps I can convince him not to kill you."

"I'd rather die with moose all around me," Garrison said offhandedly. The shift between the facades seeming seamless while both still showed possessed a rapidly growing red spot that spread through their clothing. "Giant moose! Meese! And maybe a case of Moosehead, eh."

"Brave words for one barely clinging to life," Marie scoffed, though a tear glistened down her cheek unbidden, cutting through the pancake makeup. Peach skin was revealed as the white dripped down, black eyeliner highlighting the trail of the liquid as it slid down her cheeks. Her jian dropped to hang by her side as she took a step closer to the likeness of the Canadian, her other hand reaching out towards him.

Garrison crossed his arms over the entry wound and in seconds, adamantium claws extended, catching the sword in between his blades and extending his arms. "Hey, kid," said Logan, as he forced the Lady Mandarin back. "Rough night you're havin'," he added, moving in a half-circle around the hilt of the blade.

Marie's sword arm didn't rise as she watched blood seep from the wound in Garrison's stomach, her face almost unresponsive at the switch to Logan's body. Though part of her told her to lift the sword back up and defend herself, Marie tossed it away in disgust. "What have Ah done?" she asked, but she wasn't sure who she was asking.

He put his arm around her, sending an outstretched claw into her torso. "Just what needed to be done, darlin'," Logan said, slowly transforming back into Betsy, tilting her head, and looking happily down at the younger woman. Betsy's fist still connected to Marie's sternum as a maniacal grin spreading out through her features as the blood stain in her chest receded. The glow from her psi-blade underlighting Marie's face. "I knew that was going to hurt you but I think it was worth a little pain, don't you think, Marie? "Sorry, luv." Betsy said. "Beastly thing to do, but there's nothing more to be done for it. You might forgive me someday." And then, Betsy proceeded to psychically break through Lady Mandarin's mental fortress and extricate the parasite from within her friend.

Staring down at the psi-blade piercing through her, Marie let out a sigh of relief. It was over. Eyes elsewhere blinked open to realize it wasn't quite as finished as she had thought.

The astral landscape disintegrated around them as the connection between these two entities slowly and painfully disconnected. With a heavy burdened sigh, Betsy withdrew her hold and the psi-blade dissipated. From within the mindscape and in the real world, chaos reigned as reality swept back in, and the telepath realized that while she had won, there would still be certain sacrifice. It was then she felt the pain-riddled depletion of her essence and forced her eyes to open. It was the hurt that jarred her senses enough to become aware of the last vestiges of her strength vanishing. And if someone were standing close to her as she fell, they could just hear. "Christ, not again."

With the injury of the Mandarin, the rest of the Triad edged back, unable to gain purchase against Amanda's shield or to close against the two mutants. Remy retrived his staff, walking back to where Amanda stood over the prone forms of Marie and Betsy. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see them stirring, and decided that whatever needed to be done was well along in the process. "Shiro," He called over his shoulder. "We leaving. Burn dis place."

"I know I ought to argue," said Shiro, "because Professor Xavier frowns upon senseless destruction of property. But sometimes accidents happen." He absently kicked a stack of two-by-fours which instantly caught fire. "Like that. Whoops."

~*~

Amanda draws strength from San Francisco to snap the final bonds holding Marie. Who would have thought that this city manifests itself as rainbows?


Marie gasped as she sat upright, hands flying to clutch at her chest, the scars on her chest burning. Her head had a dull, steady ache and she struggled to figure out where she was and how she'd gotten there. Glancing to her right, she saw Betsy's prone form and a memory leaked through…a crimson stain spreading across the chest of someone she cared for deeply. A stream of names flew through her mind as she saw herself, almost from a distance, battling her friends. And then one name rose to the surface.

Garrison.

"I hope like fuck you're back with us," came a slightly strained-sounding voice from behind her - Amanda's accent was slightly thicker from the effort she'd been expending. "'Cause 'm not sure I've got it in me t' lock you in your own personal shield and all." Despite her words, she was readying herself for just such an eventuality, drawing on as much of San Francisco's energy as she could. The problem being the city didn't exactly lend itself to locking down and shutting away - it was far more open and accepting than that. Shiro happily setting the place on fire wasn't helping. Sodding pyromaniac.

Twisting to stare at the blonde witch, Marie caught sight of Remy and Shiro battling Mandarin and another rush of memories came forward - eating at the restaurant, waking up in a dingy storeroom as her chest burned and then emptiness. "What happened?" she asked, staring at Amanda. #I stabbed you.#

Oh, good. Confusion and asking what had happened were a bloody good sign of someone coming back to themselves. "'S a bit complicated for the full story right now, but the cliff notes? Magical mind control." Satisfied Marie wasn't about to go rouge - hah! - on them again, Amanda stooped to check Betsy's pulse. Finding it strong and steady despite the other woman's unconsciousness, she turned to her friend. "Here, let me take a look at that," she said almost gruffy, but her hands were gentle as she reached out to tug Marie's hands away from where she was holding onto her chest and unbuttoned her clothing, careful to touch the other girl's sleeves and not her skin. The last thing Marie needed was another person in her head. "'M guessing Betsy broke the hold somehow, but there's still..." Amanda hissed a little as she caught sight of the top two circles burned into Marie's skin. "...the spell," she concluded, lamely

"Still hurts," Marie said, glancing down at the scars. "Didn't think Ah could burn, but apparently magic is just special like that." Good thing Ah didn't like wearing skimpy clothes that much anyways. "Ah'm just glad you're ok. Ah thought..." she shook her head. "'s not important."

...skimpy clothes... The words were an echo in Amanda's mind, and she shook her head a little, as if trying to dislodge them. "Magic's always buggering up the natural order," she replied with a slightly-forced joking tone, as she examined the burns. Ugly and raw-looking, they had to hurt, even for Marie. Amanda bit her lip. She could possibly Heal them, but it'd need a power sour... no, volunteers, no thinking of people as batteries. And given the state they were all in, she wasn't going to use anyone here. Unless there was another way...

Marie's brow creased as she pulled back from Amanda. "Use who?" The question came with fear, as Marie continued to process all those she'd hurt in the mindscape.

Amanda blinked. "I didn't say..." Her eyes flicked from Marie's bare hands and then to Betsy's unconscious form. Shite. "Right," she continued, taking a deep breath and focussing as much as she could on her psionic shielding. I'll try and keep it down to a dull roar, mate. "First things first. We can't leave this lot here, but 'm not sure if I've got enough power for a healing spell. Too bad I can't use what I'm getting from this city - this place has got quite the vibe..." Her voice trailed off as her thought processes changed track.

Crap. "Ah'm not trying, Ah promise," Marie said as she tried to strengthen her shields, the chinks evident throughout her own mindscape, the information she'd pulled from Betsy not working to shield her own mind as the water in her dams began to shift and roil about. "Ah was bad, wasn't Ah?" she asked, glancing at the prone telepath.

"Well, I can't say much for your choice of hubbie. I mean, I thought accidentally getting married in Vegas was dumb, but the old Chinese mafia bloke? Never date a man who wears more jewelry than you do, that's all I'm saying." Amanda's words were joking, but she reached out and squeezed Marie's shoulder, nothing but concern and sympathy in her face. It's all right. I know you aren't meaning to, she projected, her experience with Nathan and Manuel coming to the fore, even as her mind was working furiously as to a solution to the scars. Can't do a normal healing - I don't have the power, and I'm not draining everyone here to do it. But there's always a way around. Following on the heels of that was another thought, the tone a thick Cajun patios, a memory of a thousand talks about magic. Listen to de city. What it telling you, chile?

Marie swallowed hard as the realization that Amanda wasn't speaking fully settled upon her. "Doesn't make sense. Ah can usually use what Ah take." Her glance traveled down to her hands, followed by her outfit. What the hell am Ah wearing? "Wait...hubby? What?" Marie said as her face turned pale. "You're kidding right?" Her hands reached down to pull the sides of her dress together, her gaze noticing the slit traveling well up her thigh. "Ah...maybe Ah don't want to know."

"Later. I'll take you out to the pub and get you squiffy and tell you the whole sordid story." Amanda sounded distracted, and she held up her hand to forestall any more questions. "Give us a sec, yeah?" As Marie nodded, she closed her eyes focussing on her mutant power, what she thought of as a warm glow somewhere in her chest. What are you trying to tell me? she thought, focussing on the 'taste' of the energy.

Freedom. Choice. Be who you want to be, who you were meant to be.

Amanda's eyes snapped open, and her grin was broad and triumphant. "I? Am a sodding genius," she said.

"Well Ah've always told you that," Marie said before pausing. "Um...how is that gonna help here?" She shuddered as the memories in her head continued to fill her in on what the past day had entailed. "And wow. Ah owe some people apologies don't Ah?"

"You were mind controlled. That's a free pass - fuck, there's a bloody support group for you lot these days. Now, hold still a minute. This'll... well, actually, I have no idea what it'll feel like. It'll either be a tingle, or hurt like fuck." Amanda splayed her left hand open, holding it above Marie's chest, and the marks she knew were burned into her skin. A faint rainbow-tinted glow emerged from her hand.

Marie's chest felt warm, a tightness as the skin on her chest reknitted itself to heal the burned flesh. "Ah don't know that tingle is quite the right word...but Ah don't think Ah'm gonna be making a habit of this anytime soon." She watched in fascination as the skin on her chest expanded to cover the absent flesh. "Let's not do this again, 'kay?"

"Fine by me," Amanda almost grunted, focussing hard. It wasn't a Healing, it was more opening herself up to the innate power of San Francisco and channelling it into Marie, and as such, it felt weird. And it wasn't like she deliberately used the mutant power that much, at least not like this. Still, it seemed to be working - the skin renewed itself over the scars, moving from raw wound to healing scab to pink scar. Then the witch grimaced, yanking her hand away and holding it to her suddenly pounding head. "Bloody buggering fuck. Ow."

Marie glance shot from her slowly healing skin to her friend. "Amanda? You okay?" The witch continued to grimace though she shook her head yes. "Right. Okay, Ah think we're done here. Let's go home."

Amanda pinched the bridge of her nose, and nodded again, cautiously. "Sounds peachy to me." A pause. "Can we stop for aspirin on the way?"