xp_logs | Keep The Faith: Flashbacks and Awakenings

The story of the missing X-Men begins to unfold.

THEN

The house was pretty light on furniture. Kyle looked around, eyeing a cheap couch from, he'd put money on it, the local Rent-a-Center. It was clean, in that way that suggested they hadn't been there very long, but had unpacked. No video games, or books scattered around, nothing on the tables.

It'd have been a lot creeper if it hadn't looked just like the last four places his parents had lived before they finally got a mortgage.

Kyle made a point of being last to the plane. "Hold on a sec, guys. I gotta take a leak." He yelled up the ramp and then jogged back down, and knocked on the front door of the house.

Mrs. Styger opened the screen door, looking slightly confused behind her glasses. "Did Nils forget something?" She asked.

"No, I... " Kyle rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Look, I dunno how much the Professor told you about the school, but, well, don't be surprised if Nils has some, you know, culture shock." He looked embarrassed. How do you tell someone who you're pretty sure is a single mom with almost no money that their kid was going to a place where there was a Rolls in the garage. "I did too. It's.. kinda different. It's a good place though. He'll be in good hands."

The small brunette woman smiled, lighting up her round face. "I'm sure he already is."

***

NOW

The sound of a door opening and closing was the first bit of sound that jerked Kyle to alertness. Footsteps, then motion at the edges of his peripheral vision. A man stepped in front of him, dark-haired, keeping his back to Kyle as he approached the small table. "Kyle Tyler Gibney," the lilting accent echoed off the walls, accompanied by the dull slap of plastic on metal, as the man placed Kyle's driver's license on the table. "My name is Suvik Senyaka. Are you aware of what is happening to you?"

Of course Kyle struggled before answering. Waking up strapped to anything meant his first instinct was to get out, get away and do painful things to whoever was responsible for him being restrained. A long minute of thrashing proved that he wasn't going anywhere. "Go to -hell-." He muttered, once he had also realized that no, he was not going to chew through the thick leather muzzle covering his mouth and jaw.

"Yes, well, that's to be expected," Senyaka said, turning around to face Kyle. He appeared to be an unassuming man, dark-skinned and friendly-looking save for the scars crisscrossing one side of his face. "There are things that you know, that I and my associates wish to know. Over the next few hours... or days, if you wish, I will learn these things from you. First, would you like some water?"

Senyaka picked up a glass from the table, sipping it in front of Kyle, and then extending it towards the X-Man's muzzled face. "It is not drugged or poisoned. I would not use such methods."

Kyle stared in disbelief. "Kinda hard to drink with this thing on my face." He grunted. Might as well talk to the guy, try to figure out what was going on, if he could. Right now, he didn't even know who this guy was, or who he was working for. ~Associates~. Kyle thought. ~What is with dudes like this and talking like they're bad mob movie characters~.

Cautiously, Senyaka carefully lifted the glass to the leather muzzle, pouring water through the small holes so that Kyle could drink. "Yes, well," he said apologetically. "I was not instructed to make you comfortable, only to keep you alive so long as you are useful to us. And to me. I will be to the point. Your Charles Xavier has a device to find mutants: Cerebro. We wish for you to give us the codes to access this information remotely."

He frowned, removing the glass and returning to the table, picking up a folded length of red cloth and running his hands over it. "Not immediately, of course."

If Kyle could have whapped himself in the forehead, he would have. As it was, he continued to stare at the man in disbelief. "Do I look like I use Cerebro? Do I even look like a guy who would have... look, I don't even know how to get into the room where Cerebro is." While techincally that was only because he just wasn't interested, it was true. "You kidnapped the wrong guy." He almost would have laughed, if the situation hadn't been so frightening.

Senyaka just chuckled as he unfolded the cloth, wrapping it around his face until only his eyes were exposed. "It does not matter," he said calmly. "You see, either you will give me the information, in time, or one of your friends shall. I prefer these matters to be... lengthy."

As he spoke, Senyaka backed away from Kyle, holding up one fist. A spot of light glowed on the back of the masked man's hand, until he whipped his arm forward and a tendril of energy cracked forward to lash over Kyle's exposed neck.

Unable to move away, or fight back, or even turn his head, Kyle was helpless against what felt like a million exploding fires everywhere on his skin. His vision went black, and then white and red and black again as he convulsed, howling in pain.

Exhaling with a noise of near-ecstasy, Senyaka retracted the psionic whip, the energy continuing to spark around his clenched fist. "Pain, yes?" he asked in a lilting voice. "That is what I will give to you, until you give me the information I seek. I know that you have been trained to remain strong, and I respect that. And I can see that you heal quickly, so perhaps you do not fear injury. Or maybe..." his voice faded for a moment and took on an introspective tone as he ran a finger over the exposed points of Kyle's ears. "Maybe it is that you have too much of the animal in you, and you simply do not know how to break."

After the blinding pain, the soft touch on his ear was amplified - it almost hurt as well, and Kyle jerked his head away as far as he could, rattling the restraints and muzzle. "Go get fucked, you sicko." He growled, pretty convinced that this guy was getting -off- on this. "I don't know what the hell any codes are and even if I did, you wouldn't get them." God, he hoped they hadn't gotten anyone -else- from the plane. At least he'd survive this freak's pain fetish. "Go find a closet to jerk off in and leave me alone."

Senyaka chuckled, an almost delicate sound in contrast to the brutal pain he enjoyed inflicting. "Please, resist," he said quietly. "It makes this more... enjoyable."

As he spoke, the glowing energy whip uncoiled from his hand again, dangling down the back of the rack that Kyle was strapped to. With a slow gesture, Senyaka pulled his arm back, letting the crackling energy glide along the side of Kyle's face before stepping back and lashing forward, scourging the young mutant over and over.

"The codes!" Senyaka hissed with a fanatic's fervor, "Give them to me, and this will end. Or if the animal in you is strong enough to withstand the pain..." The mask quirked in what could have been a hidden smile. "Perhaps your friends will not. The young girl, perhaps? Those wings, so... delicate."

Behind the muzzle, Kyle screwed up his face in an expression of disgust. Jan was absolutely too nice and sweet for this guy to have any kind of freaky sadism fetish about her. "You are barking up the total wrong forest, pal." He said, with an irritated growl in his voice. "She probably knows less about Cerebro than I do, and what I know could fit into like, my pinky toe." ~Or your jock strap~, he thought, almost proud of himself that he hadn't said it out loud. Insulting the guy just seemed like it would get him more pain, and Kyle didn't want any more of that.

"Loyalty is a noble trait," Senyaka said, drawing the lash back and cracking it once more against Kyle's flesh. "Why do we assign it so often to dogs, do you wonder? Is there something of the noble animal inside you? Or just the animal protecting his pack?" A long pause, almost enough to let the pain fade, and then another agonizing strike from the psionic whip. "We shall find out, I think. In time. And we have so much time together, Kyle Gibney. So much time."

THEN

The kid was pretty quiet. Too quiet, in fact. While Jan could appreciate a few moments of quiet and relaxation every now and again, by nature she was cheerful, bouncy, and talkative, and there was this poor kid in front of her who was just sitting there, silently. He must be scared, Jan figured, not sure what to think about them. There was only one thing to do in this type of situation, of course: engage the boy in conversation. Jan grinned at the new student, trying to look friendly and nonthreatening. That had to get at least a small smile out of him in response, right?

The boy just sat there, staring straight ahead, his stringy black hair hanging over his eyes. He looked to be in his mid-teens, but the dark tone to his eyes made him look oddly alien, ageless in a way.

Well, clearly that hadn't worked. Odd. Jan attempted to tone down her smile, still trying to give off "I'm likeable!" vibes. "Hey, Nils," Jan said. "There's a ton of stuff to do in New York! And you'll - "

"My name isn't Nils," the boy said, breaking his silence with a disconcertingly deep, echoing voice.

"Uh... OK," Jan said after a moment's pause. "Did we get your name wrong or something? You have a nickname or something?" Jan thought if her name was Nils, she'd want to go by another name, too. "What should we call you?"

The boy smiled, inhumanly wide as the shadows around him seemed to grow and envelop the Blackbird in darkness, as that deep, ominous voice could be heard from the black.

"ABYSS."

***

NOW

Jan woke up, and was pretty sure she wished she was still asleep, maybe dreaming, because what had just happened? Jan pushed herself into a sitting position and glanced around. Again, she immediately wished she hadn't. "Um... hi," she said weakly.

The large bearded man sitting on a stool against the door glanced up from where he was rubbing the callused pad of one thumb against the blade of a hacksaw. He stood, wiping the saw on the stained butcher's apron tied around his middle. "You are awake," he said gruffly. "This is good. I have no patience for these things. My name is Kamal al-Alaqui. Do you remember me, filthy insect girl?"

"Um... no? Should I?" Jan asked, somehow feeling those four words were really the wrong thing to say.

In an eyeblink, Kamal moved across the room, lifting Jan up by her neck and pressing her against the cold concrete wall. With the hacksaw in his other hand, he swept his greasy black hair from his ear, revealing a mass of unevenly-healed burn scars. "You must speak louder, vermin. Ever since that day in Tibet, I find that I do not hear so well. You scarred me, little bug. You, a woman, practically a child! Had the gall to mar me!"

He dropped Jan roughly to the floor, testing the edge of the saw against his thumb again, turning his back to her. "They tell me that I am to ask you questions. Retrieve codes from you for your Cerebro machine. Personally, I do not care whether you tell me or not. One of your pitiful friends will break in time. And when they do, I will get to kill you."

"Oh, that was you?" Jan shook her head. "Didn't recognize you, sorry. You're even uglier than I remembered." With that, Jan shrank, quickly making her way through one of the shirt sleeves that no longer fit her one-inch frame. Luckily, she'd thought to wear one of her special outfits under her clothes, so she wasn't naked this time. The thought of being naked in front of Kamal, even in this tiny size, made Jan want to puke.

Kamal laughed, watching the miniscule girl fly back and forth in the room. "Yes, yes! Fly away, little insect. Although take care, you may find yourself trying my patience."

He kicked Jan's clothes over towards the stool, then reached down to pick up a spray can from the floor, spraying a few puffs of acrid-smelling mist into the air before pointing it in Jan's direction. "It says 'kills pests dead'. I wonder what it will do to you, hmm?"

Jan didn't bother responding to Kamal; he wouldn't be able to hear her right now, anyway, unless maybe she went for his other ear, but she had the feeling he might be ready for that. Jan quickly came to the unfortunate realization that since Kamal knew to expect her to shrink, he was prepared for her. Trying for the vents was no good, as they were covered with wire, and Jan wanted to be sliced and skewered just as much as she wanted to be squished. What confused the teen, however, was the large cage in the room.

Kamal walked across the room, spraying bursts of the insecticide to herd Jan away from the vents and towards the phone booth-sized cage. With one hamfisted hand, he opened a small hatch in the wire-wrapped enclosure. "Inside, little vermin. And then we will... talk."

Jan had no intention of going inside what she was sure was some sort of horrible torture device. "Yeah, no." Holding her breath, Jan flew to one side, then quickly zipped to another side, zapping Kamal as she flew by.

The first zap flared against Kamal's skin, which had taken on a metallic sheen, identical to the can he was holding. He laughed, the sound like jangling silverware. "I have learned from the past, however. You see, my power makes your little stings like a cool breeze to me. Now, I am going to stop being polite."

He extended his arm, spraying a large cloud of insecticide through the room.

"I am NOT an insect, you fucking moron!" Jan yelled. "I'm just the size of one! Asshole!" Jan was sure the insecticide wasn't good for her, but she was sure it wouldn't be good for anyone if sprayed directly at them.

Kamal couldn't understand the buzzing, but simply shrugged and moved for the door, picking up the hacksaw along the way. "Very well. If you will not obey, I will visit one of your friends. Perhaps I will bring something to convince you. An ear, perhaps? That would be fitting. Maybe the metal boy, his other arm? Or the red haired Irishwoman, one of her eyes? To show you the price of your willfullness?"

Slowly, he gestured towards the cage, then the door.

Well, if the crazy ugly man with a nasty giant blade wanted to cut off someone's ear, Jan hoped it was Kyle's. Been there, done that. Of course, Jan figured the crazy ugly man knew Kyle would be able to grow back the ear. Not at all happy about it, Jan flew towards the cage. There didn't seem to be any way out of here, and Jan was pretty sure Kamal wasn't planning to let her out of here. Surely someone would come to help, she just had to last until then.

With a chuckle, Kamal sealed the small hatch behind Jan, then began winding a clockwork mechanism on the side of the cage. "This is something that I have found in a, what is the American word? I have read this, yes. Ah, a cabinet of curiosities, such wonderful things. Every minute, the box, you see, it becomes smaller. As do you, I can see. But for how long, I wonder? Soon, you will tell me what I need to know. Or you will tire, and soon, the cage, it will be smaller than you and then..." he clapped his hands together, smiling a gap-toothed grin. "Then I watch you die."

Jan grew larger, not large enough to even come close to touching any of the sides of the box, but large enough so her voice would be able to be heard. "Um, so... what was your question again? I kind of missed it."

Kamal leaned forward, waiting to hear the click as the cage collapsed by an inch. He smiled, leaning in to look at Jan. "You will give me the codes to Cerebro. Or you will die."

"Uh... you think I know that why?" Jan asked, genuinely puzzled. "Dude, your intel is way off if you think I know that."

Kamal just shrugged and headed for the door. "Then you die."