X-Men Mission: Exorcism Robotica - Part 4
Jan. 21st, 2022 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsIn response to Amanda’s email, Gabe comes to her suite and finds out what she needs him for. He is less than impressed.
Amanda's dispatch had almost immediately put a knot in the pit of Gabriel's stomach, even without knowing exactly what she needed. The chaos in the mansion had taken on a new danger as of late; the stakes were higher, the emergencies felt more dire. And it was so rare for Amanda to summon Gabriel like this. He just — something felt off.
Still, he tried to suppress it as he went to her chambers, and he kept his expression neutral as he knocked at her open door to announce his presence, then strode in. "So," Gabriel said, dispensing with a greeting and going straight to the point. "What's up?"
Amanda paused in the midst of packing the small satchel she'd started using on missions - her pockets just didn't hold enough magical supplies these days - and grimaced. This was not going to be easy. "I need you for a job. Like, right now." She took a breath and continued in the same straightforward manner he had used. "We need to go back to the hell lord's dimension."
“No the fuck we don’t.” His eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms. “Have fun. Bye.” He turned to leave.
"Wait!" Amanda left what she was doing and stood in front of him. "There's a way to take him down and send him back where he came from. But I need the people who were there." There was an almost desperate urgency to her voice. "I can't do this on my own, there's no other way. Please, Gabe. I wouldn't ask if there was any alternative." She reached out, but stopped short of actually touching him.
“Amanda…” Gabriel bristled, even without her touch. The knot had grown; he felt queasy, his chest slightly tight. “That fucking… he almost killed all of us,” he reminded her, since she seemed to have forgotten. “He… the things he — I just…”
He couldn’t verbalize it. She wasn’t there, and even the people who were wouldn’t have understood what Olivier did to him, and how it had left him feeling. “To go back there it — Amanda, I don’t want to be Kane this time.”
"You won't be. I can't explain all of the magic, but you won't be trapped. I have an out for his dimension once we've taken care of him." She dug into the satchel and pulled out a number of amulets on heavy leather cords. "Protection amulets. One for each of us. These'll get you out of there in a blink, guaranteed. They were made by some of the best magic users I know and they certainly cost enough." She peeled one off the bunch and held it out to him. "And I kn... I understand what happened to you all. I've spent my life dealing with demons and what they do. I know it's an impossible ask, but for the spell to work, you have to be there. You and the others."
Gabriel looked at the amulet, hesitating. He wanted to trust her, but missions and jobs hadn’t been going as planned. And he couldn’t bear getting trapped with Olivier or Costa or whatever he was again; the parting threats had been unbearably vile.
But, he noted as he glanced up at Amanda, she seemed desperate in a way he wasn’t sure he’d seen before. “We have to end him,” he said, taking the amulet from her. “You better be sure. Because I can’t — I trust you, I do, but…”
"We will. And if anything goes wrong, at the first sign, we're out of there. I am not losing anyone to him again." Amanda took a breath, settling her shoulders which had been almost painfully tense. "It means a lot, you trusting me. I won't let you down."
“Yeah. Well.” Gabriel shrugged as he wrapped his palm around the amulet she’d offered. He closed his eyes and tried to sense its power, but it did little to soothe him. He wanted to tell her that he’d rather be dead than in the demon’s clutches, but he didn’t want to have to explain. At least he knew Kyle and Jean would understand.
Kyle and Jean. Christ. He opened his eyes. “We’re going to have to convince the others, but I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it.” He put the amulet on, figuring it was never too early for extra protection. “So I guess tell me what else we need before we go.”
"Hopefully it won't take much, 'cause we don't have a lot of time." Amanda pulled, of all things, a locker key from a bus terminal out of an inner pocket of her jacket. It shimmered oddly in the light. "Take my hand. We're going to have to teleport to Kyle and Jean, and I can't take you my usual way. I had Stephen charge this up for me." And with that she pushed forward with the key, as if inserting it into an invisible lock, and turned it. At once a portal appeared, smelling of bus exhaust and fried food and sweat, the light of it stuttering on and off like bad fluorescents. Looking over her shoulder, she held out her hand for Gabriel to take.
“Oh, we’re—“ Gabriel sighed. The knot grew bigger. The tension was still in his shoulders and his chest. “Fucking hell.” He took her hand. “Let’s go.”
Amanda's dispatch had almost immediately put a knot in the pit of Gabriel's stomach, even without knowing exactly what she needed. The chaos in the mansion had taken on a new danger as of late; the stakes were higher, the emergencies felt more dire. And it was so rare for Amanda to summon Gabriel like this. He just — something felt off.
Still, he tried to suppress it as he went to her chambers, and he kept his expression neutral as he knocked at her open door to announce his presence, then strode in. "So," Gabriel said, dispensing with a greeting and going straight to the point. "What's up?"
Amanda paused in the midst of packing the small satchel she'd started using on missions - her pockets just didn't hold enough magical supplies these days - and grimaced. This was not going to be easy. "I need you for a job. Like, right now." She took a breath and continued in the same straightforward manner he had used. "We need to go back to the hell lord's dimension."
“No the fuck we don’t.” His eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms. “Have fun. Bye.” He turned to leave.
"Wait!" Amanda left what she was doing and stood in front of him. "There's a way to take him down and send him back where he came from. But I need the people who were there." There was an almost desperate urgency to her voice. "I can't do this on my own, there's no other way. Please, Gabe. I wouldn't ask if there was any alternative." She reached out, but stopped short of actually touching him.
“Amanda…” Gabriel bristled, even without her touch. The knot had grown; he felt queasy, his chest slightly tight. “That fucking… he almost killed all of us,” he reminded her, since she seemed to have forgotten. “He… the things he — I just…”
He couldn’t verbalize it. She wasn’t there, and even the people who were wouldn’t have understood what Olivier did to him, and how it had left him feeling. “To go back there it — Amanda, I don’t want to be Kane this time.”
"You won't be. I can't explain all of the magic, but you won't be trapped. I have an out for his dimension once we've taken care of him." She dug into the satchel and pulled out a number of amulets on heavy leather cords. "Protection amulets. One for each of us. These'll get you out of there in a blink, guaranteed. They were made by some of the best magic users I know and they certainly cost enough." She peeled one off the bunch and held it out to him. "And I kn... I understand what happened to you all. I've spent my life dealing with demons and what they do. I know it's an impossible ask, but for the spell to work, you have to be there. You and the others."
Gabriel looked at the amulet, hesitating. He wanted to trust her, but missions and jobs hadn’t been going as planned. And he couldn’t bear getting trapped with Olivier or Costa or whatever he was again; the parting threats had been unbearably vile.
But, he noted as he glanced up at Amanda, she seemed desperate in a way he wasn’t sure he’d seen before. “We have to end him,” he said, taking the amulet from her. “You better be sure. Because I can’t — I trust you, I do, but…”
"We will. And if anything goes wrong, at the first sign, we're out of there. I am not losing anyone to him again." Amanda took a breath, settling her shoulders which had been almost painfully tense. "It means a lot, you trusting me. I won't let you down."
“Yeah. Well.” Gabriel shrugged as he wrapped his palm around the amulet she’d offered. He closed his eyes and tried to sense its power, but it did little to soothe him. He wanted to tell her that he’d rather be dead than in the demon’s clutches, but he didn’t want to have to explain. At least he knew Kyle and Jean would understand.
Kyle and Jean. Christ. He opened his eyes. “We’re going to have to convince the others, but I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it.” He put the amulet on, figuring it was never too early for extra protection. “So I guess tell me what else we need before we go.”
"Hopefully it won't take much, 'cause we don't have a lot of time." Amanda pulled, of all things, a locker key from a bus terminal out of an inner pocket of her jacket. It shimmered oddly in the light. "Take my hand. We're going to have to teleport to Kyle and Jean, and I can't take you my usual way. I had Stephen charge this up for me." And with that she pushed forward with the key, as if inserting it into an invisible lock, and turned it. At once a portal appeared, smelling of bus exhaust and fried food and sweat, the light of it stuttering on and off like bad fluorescents. Looking over her shoulder, she held out her hand for Gabriel to take.
“Oh, we’re—“ Gabriel sighed. The knot grew bigger. The tension was still in his shoulders and his chest. “Fucking hell.” He took her hand. “Let’s go.”
