Chapter 42 : Mayhem

Hello, everyone ! The book of the day is… more of a saga really. The Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb. It's perhaps the series that really made me fall in love with Fantasy. It's pretty dark and gritty, revolving around the court's intrigues and politics.

The MC, a bastard son of the crown prince, never meets either of his parents and end up being raised by the castle stable master before tutoring under another bastard son as a royal assassin. That's basically the beginning of the first book but there's a lot more to it than that ! I highly recommend it !

Now onto my own thing. I welcome any comments, reviews and/or stones sent my way. Also, you can check out my Patréon page for advanced chapters and other stories. Search for Cathbel on their website.

That's all. See you all later and enjoy the read !

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I'm expecting a lot of things before going topside : Jean Grey going all Dark Phoenix and burning the mansion to the ground, Weapon-X attacking en force while using the few planted mutants inside to cause a distraction or take out the most dangerous defenders, even a visit from one of Xavier's children. Given how… promiscuous the man was portrayed to be in some of the things I read, I thought maybe he had a whole litter of them, disseminated around the world. And given one of them was Legion, an omega-level mutant body snatcher with a biff with Xavier's parenting… I would not have been surprising if it was him attacking.

Anyway, that's the version I know from the Ultimate comics, at least…

What I am not expecting is for our training session to become real. And for us to draw conclusions and lessons from it right away. Granted, there aren't any kaijus. Or at least, they aren't as tall as buildings. Still, they are quite big… And terrifying.

If I have to describe them, I'll say they're like an unholy union of eldritch abominations and xenomorphs. So, obviously, the kids are yelling and running every which way, trying to escape from the monsters while a few more courageous one are fighting back or protecting their friends.

A slight tone of panic piercing through his voice, Peter asks :

« Is it an alien attack ? »

« Like the movie ? » Cory asks, similarly shaken. « Aren't they, you know… Fake ? Besides, they look a little different. »

Contrary to the two of them, Doreen doesn't appear shaken much. Rather, I can tell she's trembling in excitement. It's weird really for a girl who's part squirrel to be such a battle maniac, but that's what she is… I wonder if it comes from her human or animal part. She's also listening to something. Or at least, it looks like she is…

« There's too much noise, I can't hear what my friends are telling me… »

Then, it's my turn to interject :

« I'm leaning more toward an extra-dimensional infestation. Perhaps demons… They don't look like the pictures I've seen but there an infinite number of variations and species, so… » I shrug.

I'm proud of myself ! I think I've managed to hide how terrified I am !

« Why are you turning toward the elevator, Nate ? The fights are that way ! » Doreen points out.

« Huh ? » I didn't even notice it, but… Yeah, it looks like my body is trying to run away instinctively. Smart one, my body is ! Though now, I don't think I can fool my friends…

Meanwhile, Xavier is massaging his temple. In the comics and the movies, it is the only way to show a telepath like Charles Xavier using his powers. However, in reality, his powers relies on the power of his brain. His fingers do jack shit in this situation… Unless he can alter the blood flow to his brain with a massage ? Nevertheless, he's doing it right now.

After a few seconds, he speaks up :

« As expected… » He sighs. « One of our newest students is having trouble adjusting to her powers… These are psionic constructs born from the nightmares and fears of a few of our students. My guess is… Young Danielle is having a nightmare. A bad one, at that… »

Hearing this, Cory panics :

« You're telling me this Danielle is creating these things in her sleep ? How powerful is this person when awake ? »

Xavier shakes his head and attempts to clarify :

« From what little we were able to gather, Danielle's powers stem from her subconscious. A subconscious which dives into others and draws the thoughts and fears of those visited. At the moment, she has not been able to show any sort of control over them, and they mostly manifested during her sleep cycles. »

I grimace as I think of the implications. This basically means that the other telepaths of the school, the ones with control over their powers have to keep watch over her as she sleeps. I was wondering why Xavier appears so exhausted : this answers it !

« Does she know about her powers ? How they work ? » I ask suddenly.

I have a bad feeling about this… I think to myself. At the moment, it's just slowly ramping up but depending on what the bald guru tells us, it might grow so much worse. Enough to make me puke or worse…

« Of course, she knows. I'm not in the habit of hiding such things from my students. In order to learn how to control their powers, they first have to understand their nature and where they come from… »

The bad feeling is growing…

« Has she done anything that would exhaust her today ? Like P.E. Class, or she partied too hard ? »

Please, please, please ! Give me a reason for her to nap, please ! I beg in my mind.

« Not that I know of… Danielle, being new and rather introvert has not been able to make many friends, yet.

« FUCK ! » I swear loudly… « Where's her room supposed to be ? Or better yet, any idea where we can find her ? »

His hands still resting on his temples, Xavier closes his eyes for a second. When he opens them, he utters with a frown on his face :

« She's… in the forest, north of here. But she seems to be… moving away from the school ? »

Quickly making sure we're heading in the right direction, we run. I don't know what we'll be facing and it makes me anxious. Yet, I'm still running right alongside Doreen. I bet she's rubbing off on me… Is airheadedness contagious ? I'm guessing it is, somewhat. In the same way people pick their friends and close ones' expressions and mannerisms. The thing is, we haven't been doing that much heroic activities together. I don't think that's it… Maybe I'm simply getting more confident in my abilities ?

Speaking of abilities, I quickly draw a strongman on my forearm with me dip pen and my mental connection to my ink. It's making drawing that much more effective and easier ! I then spit three other glob I shape midair to land on my friend.

Doreen smirks when she sees her version of the drawing : herself, but more muscled. Cory exclaims that it's gross and Peter comments on how it clashes with his own sense of style. I don't care, nor do I retort. I'm completely focused on the situation at hand…

And that's when we finally reach them. Colossus is walking away leisurely, carrying an unmoving girl on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. By his side, a scantily-clad red-headed woman with short air and glasses. She was wearing all green clothes from her boots, to her dress all the way up to her hat and the feather sticking out of it.

Before I can think about who she might be, Peter jumps forward with a quip on his lips :

« Didn't your mother tell you it's wrong to take advantage of sleeping people ! »