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Post by Twilight on Apr 8, 2006 9:07:38 GMT -5
Jasmine made it to the window and gasped. She saw Pain coming up the street. She knew that Eric and Marie wouldn't make it to the side street in time. Trying to figure out what to do she finally decided. She disappeared in a poof of purple smoke and reappeared in front of Pain. She stumbled and fell into his arms, her head was still spinning.
Pain caught Jasmine and smiled. He had known secretly that she liked him but not this much. "Geez Twi, I didn't kow you wanted me this much." Then he noticed that she looked odd. "Are you alright? Maybe we should get you in the house." HE steered her towards were Eric and Marie were.
Jasmine shook her head. "I'm fine Zakk, fine." SHe knew once he had his mind on something he wouldn't stop. They would walk right into the other two. Think fast she kissed him full on the lips. She knew this would distract Zakk long enough for the two to get out of sight
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Post by Chance on Apr 9, 2006 14:50:41 GMT -5
Eric smiled down at Marie, his face not able to hide the unbridled emotions that he felt for her. As she started to blush he winked. "It's okay, I don't bite." But it didn't seem to be the joking kind of mood. Marie stood up, suddenly, and whispered into Eric's ear.
"Crap!" He cursed, looking around for someplace for them to go. "What does he do?" Eric asked, turning toward Pain. "Maybe I can take him?" But he didn't even have a chance. Marie pulled him toward an alleyway and Eric didn't mind being pulled by her.
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Post by Twilight on Apr 9, 2006 15:25:22 GMT -5
Pain accepted the kiss and rather enjoyed it. He pulled away "Wow Twi, I never knew you wanted me this much."
Jasmine looked up making sure that the other two were gone. Her head started to spin again and she fainted.
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Post by Midnight on Apr 10, 2006 9:55:41 GMT -5
Marie might have paused to blush again if she had been so busy hurrying away. Glancing back, she saw the girl faint and mentally kicked herself for being so rude to someone who would help her. However, there was no time for that. Marie pushed Eric into a doorway and herself after him. Breathing hard, she tried to ignore the fact that she was pressed close against him.
Her hand was braced against the wall and Marie noticed the serpant ring snaking around her finger. Noel. Noel was a mutant too, but she still liked humans as far as Marie knew. "I know someone," Marie whispered, not letting herself look up at him. "She is a mutant, but I think she still likes me. She is smart, so she might be at that big mutant university, the leader thing. We could go there." She started thinking of ways to sneak in, but suddenly remembered that she was a mutant afterall. They would let her in and hopefully not ask questions about Eric. "I'll probably have to prove I'm a mutant," she said, speaking outloud. Marie did not yet know that her eyes were a fire in themselves.
((I'm not exactly sure what Synch should say, I just kinda used that as an excuse for Noel to meet Caity))
Noel Rich now didn't have anything to do, well, except the mountain of homework that always seemed to be assigned around this place. She didn't have many friends as her air was one of humorous aloofness. She always seemed to have a secretive smile curving around her lips and her yellow eyes hightened that look.
So she started walking aimlessly around the lobby when a newcast caught her ear... "...and there was a disturbance earlier today in Hell's Kitchen, the sapian ghetto of New York. Apparently in their hunt for the enhanced terrorist, Vendetterrous, SHIELD provoked a young woman too far and her mutant powers manifested in a cloud of darkness which she then used to incapacitate the SHIELD agents before she stormed down the main street, carrying the body of her injured father, Marcus Adams, on her back." Clips of a girl with flaming eyes walking down a street followed by a cloud of darkness were now rolled. Noel recognized the name of Adams. She recognized the girl. Marie. "SHIELD is currently looking into it without losing the priority of tracking down Vendetterrous. More on this later."
Noel Rich turned in walked in a sort of daze to a couch, plopping down. Marie... a mutant? Noel wondered if this affected her goal, but decided that since Marie hadn't been the only oppressed mutant, it didn't. Then she wondered where Marie was going to. She couldn't go back to Hell's Kitchen. And now that she was a mutant, she could live privilaged... "I need to find her," Noel whispered to herself, then stood up with resolution. She needed a telepath. Striding over to a telephone in the lobby, she dialed a number and held the phone to her ear as it buzzed. "Come on, Mindwarp, pick up..."
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Post by raphael on Apr 10, 2006 16:29:32 GMT -5
Vendetterous pushed through a door, but the pause had been all that the wolverine had needed to catch up to him. Vendetterous felt the cold metal before the burning pain as the claws were driven into his back in the soft meat to the inside and above of his left shoulder blade. The black carapace had only been designed to cover the important organs, not everything. Vendetterous dropped to a roll, throwing the wolverine over him as he got up and dodged around a corner towards the fire escape. He dove out the window grabbing the edge of the rail as he flew over it and swung down to the floor below, but as he did so, his grip gave out, what ever the wolverine had done, it was bad. Vendetterous dropped down another three floors before he caught the rail with his other hand. By now he was only one floor above the ground and dropped down into the alley way and dissappeared back towards Marie's home. It was the only place he figured they would be reluctant to search again.
meanwhile up in the apartment the wolverine was tasting the blood from his claws, getting the scent, he now knew Vendetterous could be hurt, and he also knew how to track him.
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Post by Chance on Apr 14, 2006 21:38:09 GMT -5
((very cool post Midnight! I liek the smooth addition of Mindwarp, I was wondering how I would introduce him. But Eric is a mutant, he just doesn't know it. He just kind of figures that all his good luck is simply just good luck, and his shield hasn't manifested yet because in this reality his mother was never killed and his father never beat him. He may not even develop a shield in this world...))
"Hey, shouldn't we be taking this slow?" Eric smiled coyly as Marie pulled him down an alley and pressed against his body. "I mean...I think your gorgeous, but I'm a gentleman." He laughed a little, but something in the girl's eyes made him stop. This obviously was not the right time.
"Oh...so...you want to take me to a Mutant University?" Eric gave her a confused look after she had spent a few minutes rambling about a girl named Noel and a weird ring. "Not to sound ungrateful..but you do know the law right? I could be jailed for going there!" He gave a forced laugh, but again...not the right time.
"I mean, with those eyes you'll have no problem getting past the gates..."
* * * * * *
Caity sat with Synch talking about their powers. It was weird mimicing her own ability, but she soon got used to it. So she sat, listening to him speak about how important she really was, a small smile crept onto her face.
Meanwhile on the top floor Michael Brosley, newly named Mindwarp, sat at his desk trying to do his homework. As he stared at advanced calculus problems his mind swam. Across the hall his roommate was laughing and cursing, blasting the music loudly and firing bolts of electricity down the hall.
"Hey! Could you cut it out Haywire!" Mike finally shouted, obviously frustrated.
"Aw, come on Mikey! We're just having a little fun!" Wire laughed, as a girl with way too much exposed purple skin smiled hunging around his waist.
<I mean it!> Mike fired back. Finally he used his telekinsis to just slam the doors shut. How was he suppossed to rise and become a world ruler if he couldn't even find time to do his homework? How would he ever save his father...?
Suddenly the phone rang, jolting Mike out of his daydreams. Saving his father would have to wait...again.
"Hello?" Mindwarp asked, holding the phone to his ear. "Noel? What's going on?"
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Post by Midnight on Apr 19, 2006 8:59:42 GMT -5
Marie felt her cheeks burn at what the boy was saying, even in her distracted state of mind. Gorgeous? Then she heard something about eyes. "Say what? What about my eyes?" she asked absent mindedly as she tried to think of a way to keep Eric safe during this whole episode. Wait, why was she dragging him along anyway? Maybe it would be better if she left him behind...
"Warp, I need help," Noel talked quickly and quietly into the phone. "A friend of mine from before I mutated is in trouble, and she is a mutant now, so I need help finding her... I was wondering if you could help." It felt a bit low to be asking to use his powers as if she only cared that he was a telepath. She didn't only care about that. She admired the level-headed young man who had a good future here, and although she couldn't say that she was his best friend, they were at least aquaintences... And as for using his powers... in the human world, if you had to get to the hospital, you would call a friend who had a car. Friends could do this. However, she still felt guilty.
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Post by raphael on Apr 21, 2006 10:01:01 GMT -5
Vendetterous stumbled into a group of trash cans and fell to his knees. The pain in his chest burned deeply as his naturally augmented systems began thier repairs. Vendetterous had never been wounded this way before, and it was not helping him any. He raised his head and looked about. He knew the Wolverine would be clsoe by, now that the scent of blood was fresh in his nose, Vendetterous needed to get off the streets. He got up slowly and stumbled about almost as if he were drunk. He had taken off his shirt to tie over his wound like a make shift bandage.
He stood with a grunt of effort. His unshaven face looking grim. He began to walk up the alley way, stumbling slightly and then ducked under and eve and into a building. Unlike all the other buildings in this god forsaken place, this one was empty, it was a church, and some how, churches held no meaning for people any more. That and this particular church was liable to come down around your ears if you were not careful.
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Post by Chance on Apr 22, 2006 10:32:54 GMT -5
"No, no." Eric said, not willing to be pushed away from her so quickly. "I'm going with you, where ever you're going." He somehow felt that this was what needed to be done. He had to follow this girl...there was just something about her.
"And your eyes...you mean you don't know?" He gave her a weird look and then gently placed his rough hands onto her shoulders. "Look at them." Turning her around he placed her in front of a glass window pane. The sun made it slightly reflect, allowing them both to see their faces.
* * * * * *
"Okay Noel, slow down." Mindwarp was sitting in his room, the phone pressed against his ear as if people in the next room would be able to hear her if he wasn't careful. "You want to go to Hells Kitchen...the," he lowered his voice, "human slum?" The idea seemed bizarre, but he could sense the urgency in Noel's voice, and he was happy that she had chosen him instead of one of the other telepaths. Unlike them, he could keep a secret.
"Okay, I'll meet you in front of the garden's in ten minutes. Don't worry about people thinking we're missing because I'm already generating psychic copys of us, they should be able to fool even Miss. Frost for a good hour or so. Okay, I'll see you there." With that he hung up the phone and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out his uniform and a map of New York City.
"Hells Kitchen..." he whispered, pulling the uniform on. "That;s the last place anyone ever saw you dad..." He pulled his clothes back on over it and then finished generating the psychic copys. He hoped that he remembered what Noel looked like well enough to make a convincing copy.
"Okay, here goes."
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Post by Midnight on Apr 22, 2006 19:16:23 GMT -5
Marie allowed herself to be directed by the young man, but she was reluctant to lift her eyes to the window. When she did, she was shocked. They were totally black. Well, not totally. She still had her irises, but now they were a dull red color. The suprise made her let go, and tendrils of dark smoke slid from her fingers. With this, her irises seemed to burst in flame. Twin infernos. Shaking, she turned her head away and stopped her darkness. She was suddenly imagining her future. What could she do? She was a privilaged one now, but she didn't want to be. She would rather still be a human, still know who she was and know what she was about. She still wanted to hate the mutants.
Her head dropped as she tried to hide her face. She was part of the mutant majority now, and felt the weight of their crimes on her shoulders. "Sorry," she whispered, not even sure why she was apologizing. She glanced up again. She could still see Eric's face in the window. For a second, she felt that he was her only hope. Then she pushed that from her mind as a girlish fantasy.
"I need to check on my dad first. He is in the human hospital, not far from here I think."
.........
Noel hung up the phone and leaned against it with her thoughts churning. She would still help humans. That had been her mission, even before becoming a mutant. She would help them. But the girl she was doing it for, her best friend, was now a mutant as well. Would Marie harbor the same ideas? She just had to save Marie. They could probably start looking in Hell's Kitchen or the Hospital first: Marie's phsycic imprints were probably still there. Mindwarp was powerful and he would have no trouble.
Glancing back to make sure Caity didn't expect her to stay, Noel slipped up the staircase and to her own room. She quickly changed into street clothes from the annoying standard-issue yellow uniform that the institute had everybody wear. Now it was becoming cool for students to create their own uniforms, but Noel prefered a less visible approach. She slipped into jeans and a leather jacket, making sure to tie her black wavy hair back from her dark face. The last thing she did was grab the keys for her motorcycle before running out of the room to the meeting in the garden.
In the garage, she turned her keys in the ignition and started up her black BMW bike. She couldn't resist reving the engine a bit as she drove to the front of the garden's to wait for Mindwarp. Mike Brosley was his real name, but he was one of the few that had his codename catch on more than his last name. Everyone still called her "Rich" and a few made some cracks about it. She wasn't the type to get mad easily though. Glancing at her watch/communicator, Noel looked around for Mindwarp.
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Post by Chance on Apr 29, 2006 22:48:35 GMT -5
Eric stared into the glass, watching Marie's eyes illuminate. As he stared, transfixed, he heard her apologize.
"For what babe?" Eric asked. "You've done nothing wrong." At that moment he couldn't help noticing just how red Marie's lips were. For a split second he wondered how they felt...
"Whoa," he said snapping back to reality. "The Human Hospital sounds like a good idea. You can pretend that your bringing me in." He looked around quickly for something and then finally picked up a metal pole. "Here, just hit me with this or something."
* * * * * *
Mindwarp quickly made his way down to the garden, careful to make sure that no one recognized him leaving. It was strange, but his telepathy came so easy to him, almost as simple as breathing. It was his telekinesis, on the other hand, that left him exhausted.
Finally he made it to the garden, only to find Noel Rich waiting for him on her motorcycle.
"We're not taking that thing are we?" He asked a little nervous. Maybe he could just fly...
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Post by Midnight on Apr 30, 2006 23:03:17 GMT -5
Marie stepped back, shock on her face. "Hit you? No!" she almost shouted. She couldn't do that. She didn't want to be the one to hurt him. He was strong and she could feel that strength looking at him. He could be dangerous, she thought, but in a good way. She wouldn't, couldn't hurt him. She would rather hurt herself. Feeling a pain in her hand, Marie realized that she had clenched her fists so tight that the serpant ring was digging into her skin. Again, she forced herself to relax. "There has to be another way. We could like just go in and hope no one is around..." She wondered where that woman and her boyfriend had gotten off to. Seemed that the man who had hurt the others was probably the one looking for them. "I think that SHEILD is still occupied with Vendetterous."
------
Noel flashed Mike a grin. It might have been beautiful but for the eerie effects of her yellow eyes and white fangs. "It's fine, Brosley. You know I have quick reflexes." Sure, she rode a motorcyle. Not many girls did that. Noel had perfected the art of weaving about in traffic and had very good control over her vehicle. She wasn't one of the privaledged few who could fly. Then she remembered that Mike was. "You could fly if you want," she offered. "However, no going over buildings this time. I can't keep up when you do that. Another grin came to her face at his discomfort and she couldn't resist stepping on the clutch and reving the engine. The sound of a 1180 CCs echoed through the garden.
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Post by Chance on May 6, 2006 10:25:08 GMT -5
"Fien," Eric said dropping the pole. "We can do this your way. But, if anything goes wrong, you gotta be the one to use your mutant mojo and help us out." He flashed her a bright white smile and then looked around the corner. "The coast looks clear, let's go."
* * * * * * * *
Mike glanced up at the sky and then back at the motorcycle. "What the hell," he said. "Take me for a ride."
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Post by Midnight on May 9, 2006 8:44:28 GMT -5
Marie was more thankful than he knew when she heard the sound of the pole hit the ground. She was almost eager to leave the alley, but kept her new eyes scanning the area as she seemingly crept out. Then, knowing that it would bring more attention if she snuck around, she squared her shoulders and started walking in the direction of the hospital, giving a backwards glance to see if Eric was following.
---------
Noel laughed, revealing her forked snake's tongue. "That's the spirit," she grinned at Mike as he climbed on. She revved the engine and the loud rumble echoed through the narrow alleys outside the garden. Then she brought her foot up and connected the engine with the wheels. There was a jolt as the feel of power traveled through the bike and through the riders. Then they were off. Noel was still grinning when they zoomed into a main street. It was the picture of mutant diversity. Mutants were driving, walking, or flying on the street in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Noel steered expertly through the traffic. Her reflexes were toned and accurate and they traveled fast.
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Post by Chance on May 14, 2006 11:50:00 GMT -5
Eric trailed behind Marie, trying not to draw attention to himself. He had to be careful, if someone realized he was just a human he could really be in trouble. He hoped they got to the hospital soon.
Meanwhile, Mike clutched to Noel's back as she swerved in and out of traffic, like a snake slithering through undergrowth. Jesus, she was good at riding, and Mike had to fight the urge to use his telekinesis to straighten them out. All the while his mind was racing, he wondered what would happen once they got to the hospital. Hopefully everything went well, they didn't need to be drawing any unwanted attention...
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Post by Midnight on May 15, 2006 8:59:07 GMT -5
Marie let the corner of her mouth curve up as she saw Eric following her. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this boy. But there was time to puzzle that out later. She crossed the street and continued on the other side, walking the same way that she had less than an hour ago as a furious storm with black smoke trailing her. That was not the way of it right now. Shivering, she thought of what had happened. Mom... dead. Dad, hurt. She almost ran the rest of the way to the hospital, but kept herself to a quick walk. Soon Marie turned in at the double doors of a decrepit building. People in the waiting room seemed to shy away from her. Oh, right: her eyes. She almost felt like crying as she saw humans turn away. She was an alien to her own people.
At the front desk, she asked after her father. They told her the room number and she went into the hallway. Then she stopped and glanced back. She wasn't sure why she wanted Eric to still be following her, but she certainly didn't want to be alone. Maybe that was it.
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The motorcylce roared to a halt and Noel balanced it with one foot as she looked around. The street was narrow and dirty, littered with all sorts of refuse. She could feel eyes on them as a few pedestrians glared in their direction, as much for the noise of the motorcycle as for the fact that they were obvious mutants. Dying buildings rose on their left and some deserted shop fronts to their right. The noise of a train rumbled to her ears. "Ok," she murmered quietly. "Hell's Kitchen... can you find Marie?" Noel wasn't sure how telepathy worked or what it could do, but she hoped it was pretty good at picking out individual thought patterns. Where would Marie go if she had her injured father? To the hospital, maybe, or to a human friend. What if the media were still chasing her? The police? And then Noel wondered how she would get them all back... well, they could arrange for Marie's father and maybe Marie could ride the motorcylce and Mindwarp fly. But that was only if they found Marie...
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Post by Chance on May 15, 2006 15:29:00 GMT -5
Eric struggled to keep up with Marie, obviously this girl had some speed. She was almost running now, her feet gliding swiftly over the pavement, her head held high and some dendrils of black smoke leaking around her. Eric started to quicken his pace as well, falling in behind her, trying to stay close but not too close, trying to find a healthy balance between the two.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Eric pushed open the hospital doors and found himself in the midst of a filthy, rundown medical center. His nose crinkled at the scent of decaying flesh, but he fought the feeling to vomit. This must be where her father is, he thought. He waited for Marie to turn, noticing him, before he flashed her a bright smile and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. He looked back, as if to ask whether she wanted him to wait there, or to follow him in.
Mike clinged to the motorcycle as the scenery changed from upscale metropolis to decadent slum. "So this is how the other half lives," he said thinking of his father. Things had always been different for Mindwarp, he hailed from an almost entirely mutant family, all of whom were treated like royalty. His brother and sister were both enrolled in the Academy, and his mother and grandfather were esteamed politicians. But someone in Mindwarp's life had fallen through the cracks, his father. And it was here, in slums like this, where his father lived. Mindwarp got sick just thinking about it.
But Noel's question snapped Warp back to reality. "Oh...ummm, I can try to find her, but I've never really met her before. I'll have to read your mind first before I can even try to figure out what her thought pattern is like. Do you mind?"
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Post by Midnight on May 16, 2006 8:55:27 GMT -5
Marie gave a hesitant half-smile back to Eric. "I'll just run in and check on him," she said so softly that it would have been easier to read her lips than to hear her. Then she walked down the hall, turning into a room a three doors down. Her father and three other patients had been crammed in here, but she was used to it. She knelt by his side as tears came to her eyes. "Oh daddy, I'm so sorry," she whispered even though it seemed he could not hear her. His vitals were weak and his breathing shallow. After a few minutes of holding his hand and whispering, Marie left the room. She spoke with hurried doctor on the way out and he assured her a bit nervously that they were doing all they could and he was stabalized for now.
Marie came back into the waiting room, visibly depressed. She walked over to Eric, her eyes unfocused as she thought. Then they came back into focus and she looked up at him. Her lip was quivering and eyes shining... then she grasped him tightly around the middle and began to cry into his chest.
-------
Noel frowned for a second. Read her mind? That might be bad... If he stuck to her history, he could see Marie and find her brain patterns, but if he actully found her own thoughts... Noel Rich was a revolutionary. This world was a mess and she had every intention of changing it to help the humans, but thoughts like those were looked on as treason. A tingle of fear passed over her skin a she thought of what Mindwarp might know about her and what he could do about it. Then she flashed a smile, forcing away the nervousness. "Go ahead," she replied. "I have known her growing up and I left Hell's Kitchen about three years ago... that is the place you should start looking for her." She forced her mind to clear and started running through memories. The dread at what she was trying not to think about still lurked in the back of her mind, but hopefully he wouldn't run into that.
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Post by Chance on May 22, 2006 14:34:59 GMT -5
Eric stood in the hospital waiting room, looking confused, as Marie cried onto his chest. For a minute he felt out of his element, but it wasn't hard for himt o know what to do. Wrapping his arms around her he placed his head down on top of hers, so that his chin was resting on her crown.
"It's okay Marie, everything is going to be okay. This isn't your fault, this isn't your fault at all..."
------------------------------------------------------------
For a minute Mindwarp felt as if he sensed a bit of nervousness from Noel, but in an instant it had faded and he guessed he had imagined it.
"Okay," he said, knowing how uneasy people felt about mindreading. "It's not as bad as everyone thinks, especailly if you do it correctly. Here, just clear your head." He waited as she adjusted herself into a more comfortable position. Then, when she motioned that she was ready, he continued. "Just think about Marie, think about a memory that you tie strongly to her. Once you find one, hold onto it. This should take only a minute."
"Telepathy is not a special skill reserved for the elite. It is one of our most basic ways of communication." Mindwarp recited the first line of Ms. Frost's Telepathy 101 as he allowed himself to slip into Noel's head, to become one with her thoughts.
Ms. Frost had also said that "the mind is like a fine glass, beautiful to look at, but delicate as an infant." Mindwarp knew that one small mistake, one poke into something that shouldn't be poked, could have terrible consequences. But, Mindwarp had also studied with Ms. Frost and Professor Xavier for four years. He was confident enough to locate one memory.
<Okay,> he spoke into her head. <Show me what you got.>
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Post by Midnight on May 22, 2006 15:23:04 GMT -5
Flash! A serpantine silver ring seemed to slither across Noel's mind and onto the hand of a girl with dark hair and a beautiful smile. Then the memory, playing like a video clip. Noel stood there, looking as she looked at present. Residual self-image had transposed her onto her own memory, so that when she remembered she could see herself. This made her look older than the other girl in the memory, but the voices rang true. "Here Marie. My snake ring," Noel's image was saying, her yellow eyes glittering. "I'll come back some day, and help you get out of this hell-hole. I promise..." The memory stopped as another snake seemed to slither around the surface of Noel's mind. It looked like a field with a bright yellow harvest and an eerie red sky above. The snake stopped in front of Mindwarp's mental projection and hissed at him before sliding under a door that appeared in the middle of the field, marked simply "Forbidden". The door seemed to creak open and a thought echoed across the field, "I'm not really here to become a future leader of the world, which is what everyone expected of those in the NML. I'm there to save the sapians, a completely traitorous notion. But I had been one until I was fifteen, and it was wrong for them to be treated in the ways that they were. I had promised Marie that I would save them, and I intended to." Noel's body shivered for a second as that thought crossed her mind, and the 'Forbidden' door slammed shut. Another memory of Noel and Marie played across the red sky as she ressurected her past for Mindwarp to watch. How much of what she was thinking could he see?
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