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The Missing Piece; Longshot
Topic Started: Dec 7 2008, 03:34 PM (270 Views)
Maria Siegel
Unregistered

Time of Day: 2am
Place in the timeline: November 30th
True darkness was not easily found, especially not in a city like New York where even high up, on the tops of the tallest building the glow of the lights penetrated. Of course, the exception to that rule was when you could control Darkforce; then the darkness travelled with you always, was always at your command. Inside a cloak of absolute darkness, the edges of which shifted and flowed like the seething surface of a storm ridden sea in response to the troubled mental state of it’s mistress, Erebus sat, crossed legged on a roof ledge, driven by the need for solitude and an escape from the constant needs of the people who now looked to her for constant guidance. A solitary creature by nature, training and no small amount of manipulation, her title as Black Queen, especially with no King to share the burden, was not an easy fit.

She had been just another person once, before she had been transformed into a weapon by those who saw mutants as a natural resource to be taken advantage of, and she was a weapon forged to be used most effectively by itself. Being forced into the role of leader had not been an easy step for her, but the other option was to let the Hellfire Club fall into the hands of the very madmen and psychopaths that Max seemed to have the effortless ability to corral and lead. She was not quite a psychpath or a madwoman, though many might debate her mental stability, considering how everything she was had been broken down and built back up again in a different order when she was only young girl, not yet a teenager.

Erebus chose not to dwell on such things, she had lived in the now and the immediate future for the most part, how best to stay free. But then Max had come along, and forced her to face her past and in doing so won the loyalty which she had never been able to exercise before. That was why she now ruled the Hellfire Club, winging it for the most part, improvising and hoping no one noticed, except that was little different to the rest of her life; missions went wrong sometimes and she would have to adapt, it was simply more complicated now and she was constrained by different boundaries.

Over the months since her usurping of Mystique and Max’s disappearance, she had ruled the HFC always with half a mind, and sometimes more, on finding Max. She had re-directed as much money and resources as possible to find their lost leader to little reward. The addition of the little telepath she had hoped would help but so far there was nothing. The Brotherhood had apparently got the better end of the deal. She had kept the girl though, deciding she might be of use later on and of course, getting rid of her would test Longshot's loyalty and Erebus wasn't sure he was ready for that.

She was not a woman easily deterred however and so when one route lead no where, she changed course, changed her thinking until she broke through. Her tenacity had paid off richly this time. While searching through Max’s office she had found a small space, accessible only by those able to control Darkforce, full to the brim with information, plans and resources. It meant that she had finally found the reason for the Brotherhood’s work at Wolf’s Head [and the irony of it was not lost on the darkforce wielder] as well as a whole pile of other strategy’s she was still working her way through but the most important part was about the mutant school in Westchester. The team from the flood had come from there but the people were not what Erebus was interested in, they were merely an obstacle to be overcome. It was what they housed beneath the school that interested her and she would do whatever it took to access it.

Inside her self imposed darkness, Erebus opened her eyes and let the Darkforce slip away from her, the cold wind rushing in bringing with it the noise and lights of the city, catching in her hair and sweeping it around her face. Longshot would be here very soon and they had much to do.
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Longshot
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Probability, Psychometry, Cloned Origin, Empathic Charisma
There were stories in the city and when Longshot was restless, or bored, he spent his nights and his days collecting them. In the half remembered before time, when he was Mojo's first and foremost pleasure, he was sent out to kill, and then would return to sleep in a vat. But, malformed and experimental as he was, his time out grew longer and longer, as the free will of his original asserted itself, and his appetite for something to replace the empty spaces in his mind drove him to collect the memories of others through his psychometry. Back then, he had taken the lives of those whose stories he stole, because the blood and the pain made them far more interesting, but since the scorching of his mind by the Phoenix, and his induction into the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, things were... different.

He was restless more often than not now. The world had become very confusing to him. His master, his king was gone. His savior was kept from him. His purpose... Did he even have one anymore?

His queen had summoned him, but Longshot was growing in his emotionality, and his mentality, the longer he was allowed his free will. He might never be a grown man, not in the way that one might think of a grown man, but he was thinking new thoughts now, and one might say he had become an adolescent. And, like a sullen teenager, he took his time in reporting to his queen, since he was quite angry at not being allowed to see his Alix. There was never a question of him disobeying...

... just a question of when exactly he would obey.

He watched her, long before he joined her, but when he did, it was with none of his normal flamboyance. He was suddenly, just beside her, walking along the edge as easily as if he was on the ground. "My Queen," he greeted.
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Maria Siegel
Unregistered

JP EREBUS AND LONGSHOT

Erebus watched Longshot’s approach, a faint smirk on her lips as she noticed the lack of his usual dramatics in his walk towards her and considering the time he has taken to respond she could only conclude that he was sulking. She would over look the slight lapse in respect towards her for a moment but if it continued she need to address it before the clone grew too far away from her. Whether she liked to admit it or not, she needed Longshot by her side and she needed to keep him there until Max returned. Resting her hands on her hips, she tilted her head slightly and stepped up smoothly onto the edge of the roof in front of him. “Are you angry with me, my Knight?” She asked with mock gentleness, reaching out to touch his cheek.

Longshot would have stepped away from her mocking touch if he had been a different man, but he was one who sought out the pretence of affection so he merely allowed the caress, closing his eyes. If they were not perched so dangerously on the ledge of a building, it might have looked like a lovers' tryst, stolen moments between two beautiful and passionate people. "I'm not allowed to be angry at my Queen," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "But I'm unhappy. I ask very little of the Club and I give very much. All I requested ever was to be loved... and to have protection for the one person who loved me purely."

Erebus, despite her apparent lack of morality, did feel some remorse at the clone's words, but it was a flickering, dying light in the derelict wasteland of her mind which was soon forgotten. She had been constructed with violence for violence and it was the only language she knew, though she was slowly learning others, the only way she had of communicating with others. It was why she left the telepath in the hands of Sin, to get what she needed. That and she needed to keep the man on her side and giving him this small concession was one way of doing it. Erebus turned her head, looking at the city spread out in front of them, and then down at the dramatic drop to one side of them. “Do you really think anyone can love ones such as us purely?” She questioned, her tone merely inquisitive and for once lacking the mocking tones.

"I never did until I met Alix," Longshot said, also turning to look at the city. "I have lived only four years, Erebus, and in all that time, I have been used by all who wanted me. Mojo, Magneto, The Black King... I'm desperate to be loved, but I'm not blind. I know that I'm given affection only to be kept in control. Alix is the only one who tried to help me simply because she saw more in me than a killer."

Erebus listened to his explanation, his need to be loved resonating somewhere deep inside him. She refused to acknowledge it though as there was simply no point in wanting for something that could never ever be. “Then it’s right that you wish to protect her, but I cannot guarantee her safety.” She looked at Longshot steadily for a moment and spoke in a brief moment of compassion. “I will take her away from Sin and you may have her for the night to do with what wish.” Her gaze sharpened then, a cold hardness settling over her features as she added a warning. “I have plans for her tomorrow. However, if you try to help her escape before then I will kill her. Don’t doubt that, Longshot.”

His eyes narrowed and the star in his eye shone a strange black light at the threat. "Kill her, and your own life is forfeit. I dance on the end of your strings by my own choosing, not because I don't have the power to cut myself free." The light filtered gold through the black then, and he smiled, looking suddenly like the sweet faced innocent he was in so many ways, "I'll take what I can get though. One night of peace for her. What are you planning on doing with her, afterwards, though?"

“I look forward to the day when you decided to cut yourself free.” Erebus replied with a smirk, her features lightening with Longshot’s, trace of both compassion and murderous intent gone entirely. The clone was dangerous, but so was Erebus. Any fight between them would be almost impossible to call before hand. “The school in Westchester... they have a machine for telepaths. I’m going to take the girl in there and have her find our King. If he is still on this Earth, she will be able to sense him, I’m certain of that.” Erebus replied to his question, a grim, determined smile forming on her face. “By tomorrow night, we will be able to bring him home.”

"You're going to bring her to the X-Men's doorstep and expect that you can waltz into their most secure level?" Longshot laughed, "My Queen, I was a refugee there for months, languishing in a ten by ten cell, and I can guarantee you, they'll come and stop you." He folded his arms, and his smirk matched hers, "You may be a killer, but the X-Men... they fight with righteous passion. Do you think they'll care that we seek our king? Do you think they'll let you use their equipment without so much as a by your leave? I think we'll be in need of a new queen soon."

Erebus crossed her arms over her torso and gave a small, short laugh, a twitch of her head sending her dark hair away from her face, spilling over her shoulders. “I think you underestimate me, little clone. You believe me to be simply a mindless killer.” A triumphant smirk touched her lips and she shook her head slowly. “Do you really think I was given our King’s powers simply so I could kill with them? No, I was given them for missions such as these. I am fully aware of the X-Men’s capabilities and I won’t make the mistake of underestimating them. However, all I need is a few minutes.” She reached out once more to touch Longshot’s cheek, unfolding her arms. “And luck is on my side.”

This time he caught her hand before she touched his cheek. "And, when Alix finds Max? What happens to her?"

Raising her eyebrows, she removed her hand from his and gave a casual shrug. “Well then she is home, is she not? Or were you looking to keep her?” Erebus asked.

Longshot smiled and said, "I could never keep her. I tend to treat my pets carelessly and Alix... she doesn't belong to me." He bowed deeply and flamboyantly, his carefree manner returning, "Her release is all I ever sought, my Queen. She would have helped us if we had asked her nicely. She owed our King as we all do. Sin's influences and playthings weren't needed. You may not underestimate the X-Men, but you do my savior. She is... special, and while I find delight in many dark and sinister things, she is only one spot of purity that keeps me from utter degradation."

Erebus gave him a look tinged with scepticism. “And I think you over estimate her. But no matter.” She said with a shake of her head at the clone’s words. The girl was nothing special, but she had far more important concerns than that, the telepath was merely a tool to be used. “You will come with me tomorrow. I want to keep this quick and tight. There is no room for error.” Erebus informed him and she stepped lightly down from the roof edge, a portal of shadows opening in front of her. “The telepath will be in your room by the time you return.” She told him as she stepped through, darkforce closing around her leaving the clone behind on the windswept edge.

"As you wish, my Queen," Longshot whispered to the swirl of darkness as if vanished. "Luck will be with us... with us all." Then, he turned away from the ledge and disappeared into the night.
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