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HELLBLAZE BLASTS IN
Part 2 by Multi-FacetsOut stepped Generation X's deadliest enemy: Emplate, the genetic vampire who assumed the power of the mutant he "supped" on. His servant -the little man called D.O.A.- was at his side, grinning that ridiculous grin, with coils of ropes over his shoulder and the means of their transportation in his hands. Emplate strode forward and clapped his hands on either side of the White Queen's head, feeding on her power and using her as a living shield. Banshee and Generation X froze, not knowing what to do. At that moment Emplate took control of their minds with the White Queen's telepathy. Then, at Emplate's bidding, Generation X walked outside and wrapped their arms around tree trunks, and D.O.A. tied them up. Emplate began to feed at his leisure. Krys strode out of the gym and began hiking back to the main building, turning the corner and receiving the shock of her life. She realized the villain Emplate had attacked and taken control, feeding off her teammate's genes and growing stronger with each "meal." Swift as thought, Krys spun and dove behind some nearby shrubs, shaking, not daring to think, yet knowing she had to make a plan to help her friends and teachers. Slowly, through the haze of terror, it came to her. Shapeshift. Make noise. Emplate will send that grinning gray dwarf to investigate. I'll take him out, then it's just a matter of getting everyone free and kicking Emplate's butt. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all she had. Praying it would work and that she wouldn't pass out before the job was done, Hellblaze concentrated on a form she had once seen in a nightmare, and began the change. A howl of pain rang in the air, and Emplate almost jumped out of his boots in alarm. "Hmm. I missed someone," he grumbled, calming himself. "D., fetch the errant Generation Xer," he ordered. "Yes, sir," D.O.A. said, and scampered off. He ran to the howl's source and peered into the shrubs, seeking- -"Oh my mercy!" he cried, and then a giant hand slapped across his face, sending him flying back to Emplate, where he collided with Emplate's back and knocked him to the ground. "D, you'd better have a good explanation for that!" Emplate snapped, shoving his servant off and getting to his feet. "He does. It's me," a new, deep, thundering voice boomed from the bushes. Emplate whirled and blew a volley of Jubilee's pyrotechnics into the shrubs. A high-pitched squeal sounded and a.... a something tippled out of the bushes, landed, then rose on two legs. Generation X and Emplate stared in shock. It was massive like an army tank; broad-shouldered with coarse tufts of earthy-brown hair sticking out from between large, square, dirty gray scales. Its haunches were heavily muscled and tucked low under the creature's body. Its front arms were lengthy, with large paws sporting long, slender fingers and ragged claws sprouting from the tips and dripping with D.O.A.'s blood. The creature lifted its huge, triangular head and stared at Emplate, dissecting him with elongated, glittering yellow eyes. Then its wide, protruding jaws grinned with large purple lips, revealing three rows of broad, jagged teeth dripping with thick saliva. A forked black tongue snaked through the air, as if tasting the villain. Then the creature let out a growl, and it slowly built into a piercing shriek of agony as it writhed and melted into the sweaty, trembling form of Hellblaze. She slumped to the ground, panting as she glared up at Emplate. "Hi, Emplate," she said sarcastically in a cracking voice. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Hellblaze, the one you forgot to grab." Getting over the shock of seeing the girl's immense aura for the first time, Emplate answered her. "My pleasure," he said, just as sarcastically, unaware that his mental grip on his captives was slipping. Hellblaze lifted a shaking hand. "I've dealt with your stooge, and you're next on my 'to fry' list," she said calmly, and fired a blast of bio-kinetic power at the villain, aiming for his head. Emplate absorbed the blast and sprinted forward to deal with this new snack. Oh, shit, Hellblaze thought. Hoping to distract Emplate, she fired a series bio-kinetic blasts at him, each missing and each of lesser damage then the last. Husk realized that her teammate was weakening fast. Frantically, Hellblaze rolled out of Emplate's way, got to her feet and extended her hands to her teammates. "If I miss, I'm sorry," she stated, and with amazing accuracy threw wide arcs of destructive heat at the ropes holding them to the trees. The ropes exploded and one by one, Generation X shook themselves free of Emplate's control, escaping. Hellblaze suddenly sensed an unfamiliar heat signature behind her and made a protective force shield around her body. Emplate slashed at it, but only succeeded in hurting his hands. Hellblaze then hurled the shield at Emplate, hoping to hammer him with it. Emplate vanished. "Holy.... Where'd he go?" Hellblaze asked, looked around in confusion. "He went out of dimensional synch," M called from the air. "Be careful! He could be anywhere." Abruptly Emplate materialized in the air behind Hellblaze. "BOO!" he roared, and grabbed Hellblaze's back, sinking the teeth ringing the holes in his hands deep. "I won't let you destroy my chance for genetic marrow!" he yelled, forcing Hellblaze to her knees. He was fakin' me out and I fell for it! Hellblaze thought through the haze of hurt. But he hasn't won yet.... "I already have.... you moron," Hellblaze gasped, feeling her power begin to boil out of control. "Four.... words: See.... ya.... in.... hell," she snarled, then closed her eyes and awaited death as her power erupted. A globe of destruction was vomited forth from the girl, and it spiraled up, up, up to the sky while snaking over the ground, charring it to dust as the circle of energy grew ever outward. Emplate screamed and disappeared with D.O.A. as Generation X scrambled away from the crackling heat. And suddenly the sphere of power exploded into searing light, blinding everyone. Slowly, slowly, it disintegrated into nothing. After the flash ebbed away, Generation X came back to the clearing, scarcely daring to hope that Hellblaze would still be alive. She lay in a still heap, her breaths grating through her throat, and her skin deathly pale. Still a little stunned, Chamber crept forward to the girl, stretching out a hand to take a pulse on Hellblaze's neck. Her pulse was weak and fluttering. Jonothon was certain she was going into shock. *'Blaze, can you "hear" me?* he asked anxiously, carefully rolling Krys over. "y.... ye.... yes," Krys sighed through cracked lips. *Just hang on, 'Blaze. We'll take care of you,* Jonothon said reassuringly, reaching for her outflung hand. Paige abruptly remembered something Hellblaze had told her last night. "Jono, don't touch her!" she cried, just as Jono's hand met Krys'. There was another blinding flash, and a wave of heat that blasted everyone to the ground. Once the tap-dancing lights had faded from Paige's retinas, she was able to see a healthy-looking Krys sitting up, cradling an unconscious Jonothon in her lap. Krys looked up at Generation X, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. "Run this by me one more time, lass," Banshee said sternly, facing Krys, who was huddled in a chair in his office. Emma fixed her eyes on her student and waited. "I'm a.... an energy vampire, for lack of a better description. My metabolism can't handle the strain of using my mutant power, and a lot of food isn't enough to sustain me. I have to get rid of all that power, 'cause if I didn't I'd wind up looking like Chamber. But I almost always drain m'self. So I need energy from an outside source, which means electrical systems, living things like th' plants in the Biosphere or a person, or ambient energy. In this case, I got the energy I needed from Jonothon. He had a lot to give," Krys explained dully. "And why didn't you tell us about this.... need for energy earlier?" Emma asked coldly. "The same reason a teen girl won't tell her parents she's pregnant by th' boy they hate," Krys responded flatly. "Feelings of shame.... the feeling that you must hide from hate; fear of rejection and even fear of being feared. Tell me honestly that you wouldn't be afraid of me approaching you at some point in time and sucking you dry." Emma and Sean exchanged glances. The girl had a point. "Well then, how do we know ye didnae kill Jonothon with yuir energy drainin'?" Sean inquired. "Because.... because I know what death by drainage feels like.... how it clogs my mind and stabs my heart, like th' death of the plants in the Biosphere," Krys said bitterly. "Jonothon Starsmore is not dead." Later, Krys walked into the infirmary to see how Jonothon was doing. Paige was there, sitting by Jono's bedside, holding his cold, limp hand in both of hers. Krys bit her lip nervously. "How.... how is he?" she asked timidly. "No change," Paige said shortly, not bothering to look Krys' way. Krys lowered her head as she read the anger in Paige's heat signature. "Why are you so angry at me, Paige?" she questioned softly. "You really need to ask?" Paige replied, a harsh note in her voice. "Yes; because I honestly don't know why," Krys answered. "It's because you sucked away the very thing Jonothon needs to live, and now I might never see him awake again. And I never told him...." Paige stopped herself. "I can't believe I kept my mouth shut about your dirty little secret," she said instead. "You've betrayed us all." "But.... it was an accident," Krys spluttered. "I never wanted to hurt Chamber." "Well, you did, and if one of us opened our mouth sooner, he'd be okay," Paige said harshly. "Hey, you're the one who promised to keep my secret a secret," Krys argued. "Just so you could drain Jonothon dry and possibly kill him," Paige snarled. "That's.... IT!" Krys screamed in rage, heatwaves leaping off her body and neon lights flashing wildly. "I've had it! All friggin' DAY the others have been avoiding me, staring at me with revulsion, and the teachers don't trust me anymore just because of an ACCIDENT! I DIDN'T MEAN to drain Jono! If you want him awake so bad, then fine, I'll wake him up!" she shrieked, storming forward and shoving Paige away. "I see I have to redeem myself in EVERYONE'S eyes." Kris ripped the bandages away from Jonothon's frame and placed her hand in the hole of his chest. She raised her other hand and a wild blaze of electric blue lights flowed through the air, around her fingers, down her arm, through her chest and down her other arm into Jono's body. Eerie shadows filled the room as Krys madly channeled ambient energy. Paige felt a surge of.... something, and then the air around her felt empty. The ceiling lights dimmed and the computers and other machines crashed with loud squawks. She rushed over to Jono's bed, crying, "What are you DOING?!?!" Krys didn't answer as the entire school blacked out and the energy was sucked away, flowing into Jonothon. Paige grabbed Krys' wrist to yank it away from Jono. Instead, roiling heat crashed over her and Paige fell to the floor, out cold. Fingertips delicately glided over the lines of Paige's face, then gently slid up to her forehead and brushed softly through her hair, slowly bringing her back to awareness in a careful, almost sensual way. Paige's eyes fluttered open. A very concerned Jonothon was sitting on the side of the bed Paige was lying on, stroking her hair. "jono? what....? why are you....?" Paige murmured, very confused. *Just before she passed out, Krys told me that touch could revive someone unconscious,* Jonothon said, not stopping his hand. *Do you know what Krys did for me, Paige? She drained the school's energy to restore mine. The others were worried, but then the power came back on and I.... we could take care of you. 'Blaze drained you too.* Paige gave a heavy sigh. "Oh, Jono, I feel so guilty," she said sadly. "I was so angry that I kept pushing her and pushing her, until she became so mad she just-" *I know,* Jonothon interrupted. *But she's going to be fine.* "How do you know?" Paige asked, staring up at him. *Because I'm going to do this,* Jono answered, then stood, went to the bed of Hellblaze and laid his hand firmly on her shoulder. Energy flowed in a controlled stream from his body to hers, and Krys woke up. Jonothon removed his hand. Blinking drowsily, Krys gazed up at Jonothon and muzzily asked, "Did.... did it.... work?" *Yes,* Jono said simply. Hellblaze sighed in relief. "good," she whispered, and fell into a normal sleep. A small, victorious smile lingered on her lips.
