Attack on Xavier's ((Open to All X-ers on Campus))

[ngm_miscellaneous]

Class had only been in session for a couple days at Xavier's. Labor Day had come and gone. There were more students on campus than in previous semesters. The buzz from first day jitters had settled down. Routines were starting to be picked up. It was currently the small span of time between the end of classes for the day and the beginning of after-school activities.

A mile from the main house, a very determined man wearing purple and dark blue was setting up. He took note of various things like the range to the target, wind direction, wind velocity, air density, elevation, and the Coriolis effect. As well as the effect the window he was going to shoot through would have on his very special bullet. He peered through his scope. This would be an extremely tricky shot, but the entire operation was waiting on him to start it. He needed to take out the biggest problem on that campus. The new construction getting into his way didn't help matters.

He eventually lined up a clear shot and waited. He caught a flash of red in the window. The target must have been sitting at her desk. The sniper grinned slightly to himself. He took in a breath, let it half out, and then squeezed the trigger.
The one-of-a-kind bullet made of non-magnetic material blasted out of the barrel of the sniper rifle. His aim was dead on. He quickly tapped the signal to have the first ones launch their attack.

The walls along Graymalkin Lane were breached explosively in multiple places. Most near security nodes to delay the time the security system roused. Men and women in black tabards with white crosses poured through the openings. They ran toward the buildings and any visible muties on the grounds. They all had been itching for some action since the debacle at Veridian Dynamics. Being underground for this long made the need for mutie blood strong among the Purifiers.

Comments

[kid_from_chukotka]

"I didn't know you could do that. The floating, I mean. Is it a new thing or just something you can only do when you've got an adrenaline rush?"

He has to keep him talking. Ilya keeps his fingers resting lightly to Dolemeck's head, even though the state of Dolemeck's body is making him want to be sick. And he's not sure why, but he has a brief pang of hunger, which is so out of nowhere he's beginning to wonder if he was hit and didn't realize it yet. Everything is so wrong he wishes that it was all just a nightmare. Ilya shudders, feeling cold.

[dolemeck]

"I never did it before." Dolemeck cringed a little as he admitted that. "I just... I remembered what Headmistress Ramsey drilled into me head. "It's not about the weight of the object, it is about moving it". I just... applied it to myself... so I could get you somewhere safe."

Ilya's body language did not fool him. Despite all the pain and dizziness he was starting to feel, it was hard for Ilya to fool Dolemeck.

"It must be hard... to keep looking at me like this. It is okay if you wish to move away. I would not be offended."

[kid_from_chukotka]

"No. I don't want to leave you." More accurately, he keeps having this disturbing memory wash over him of being completely alone in the cold. Even though it isn't cold here, he feels like it is, and the fact he's remembering something he knows didn't happen makes him feel like he's just as in need of medical attention as Dolemeck.

So he has to stay, has to keep Dolemeck company and focus on him. He's the only familiar and grounding thing in all of this even if Ilya feels ill. "I'm so glad you figured out how to float. I - I was scared for a second that I wouldn't be able to carry you and I was trying to figure out how to defend our position back there... I would never leave you, so I guess I could have taken weapons from those people back there and held the line. But truth be told, I've never actually fired a gun."

He's babbling, now, but he needs to keep Dolemeck awake and he needs to calm himself down now that the panic is sinking in.

[dolemeck]

"I knew you could not carry me." He managed a weak smirk on his face. "So... I used what energy I had to be somewhat helpful, aye? It was... the least I could do. I am not... totally helpless... I do not think..."

Dolemeck's good eye started to roll a little. His mind started to drift as Ilya began to babble about defending their position, and how he did not know how to use weapons. As he rambled, Dolemeck started to see things... things he knew were impossible to be in the room with Ilya and himself.

"Raven...? Ngukwa-Sikita...?" He asked out loud, as he saw them both before him. He must be hallucinating either from the pain or something. "Why are you both... here?"

[kid_from_chukotka]

Ilya's head shot up and he looked around, but saw nothing. This in no way kept Raven from moving over to Ilya's side, placing a hand on his back. The mutant relaxed without understanding why, struggling to try and sense with his mind what Dolemeck was apparently seeing with his eyes. Even though Raven's black-clad figure is behind him with those features that make it so hard for outsiders to tell if he's male or female, Ilya can't see him. "Dole? Stay with me, here." He bites his lip, unnerved by this turn in events.

Ngukwa-Sikita is tall and thin, his fur coat both extremely intricate in design and covered with dirt and ash from the waist down. His hair is long and falls in one thick braid to the ground, his eyes sharp and large - Chukchi eyes despite the gray tinge to his skin. His eyes are like dark mirrors, reflective and giving off no emotion.

"Dolemeck of the clan Night. You have passed every test, and endured. Malinatka feels you have endured long enough, and so in agreement I come on both our behalves. You do not have to endure any longer if you don't desire it." He holds out one hand, voice not unkind, glove worn bare by time, trickery and trials he himself had endured. "The night sky is ready for your arrival."

[dolemeck]

"Not yet... not yet." He sighs, finding himself waving his hand at what he is seeing. Wait... he can move? Is this one of those freaky out of body experiences he's heard or seen on TV? Yep... it appears so. That or he is truly hallucinating. Standing up, he looks at the two Gods, rather confused. "Bloody hell... this is not happening."

It took him a moment to get himself together before looking at Ngukwa-Sikita and Raven. The look on his face is quite serious.

"I know I am constantly tested, that I am made to endure more than most people... but I am not taking the bloody easy way out. I cannot do it, I cannot leave yet, when me life, our life has barely begun." He looked back on the mess that was his body, and Ilya who was still trying to get him to wake up. "There is still so much to learn, and many journeys that need to be taken. I have to learn to become stronger. Not just for myself, but for my "star" as well. So I ask that you forgive me for turning down the offer you both grant me."

[kid_from_chukotka]

"Malinatka is a kind goddess," Raven muses, still trying to calm Ilya down with simple touches as Dolemeck's body appeared to stop breathing temporarily. "But she never did understand love. This was in truth more her idea than ours. Ngukwa-Sikita simply gives her word more weight than mine."

Ngukwa-Sikita looked at his fellow god with something unreadable in his expression, then turned to Dolemeck and chose not to respond to Raven. "There is nothing to forgive. There is no selfishness in your answer. There is great potential within you, Dolemeck, for a life that brings fulfillment and comfort to many. I only ask that you live up to that potential despite the pain, if you truly desire to continue living."

He turned and is gone mid-step, though Raven lingers for a moment, silently, before stepping back and fading into the shadows.

Ilya has moved from 'fear' to 'true panic' and is sobbing openly, having not seen or heard Dolemeck's brief conversation and being unable to locate a pulse on him. His body shakes with the force of his tears.

"Dolemeck, please, please, don't do this to me... wake up..."

[dolemeck]

There was a loud gasp of air that escaped Dolemeck as he "woke" back up. His one good eye looked over at Ilya, seeing him breaking down into sobs by his side. He tried to force another smile, and even raised his hand, despite the agony that caused his shoulder. He just touched the side of Ilya's face before speaking.

"I... am not pushing up daisies quite yet... so stop crying." He continued to force that smile. "I... I think I fell asleep, or I hallucinated. Whatever it was... I was seeing things. Not a bloody good sign. We have to keep waiting for help... and hope it arrives soon."

[kid_from_chukotka]

"You stopped breathing!" Ilya's tears tumble down freely, and he hates that even under better circumstances. He takes Dolemeck's hand in his, squeezing it gently. "Stay with me, Dolemeck. They'll be here soon enough, okay? It's going to be alright."