Godiva walked to the door of her museum when the bell rang. She was
not expecting anyone to enter yet, since the opening date was not for a month
yet. When she opened the door, a large crate was there with an envelope on
it. She grabbed the envelope and read its contents.
"Dear Miss Cale, I heard about your museum for the unusual and found
something that might be of interest. This is a statue of a demon known as
the Emplate. The creature fed off the living, making more like it. I
figured it would be a great addition to your museum. Your contributor, -E"
Godiva was excited at the prospect of this. Something to add to her gallery
of demons and evils. She decided it was time to carry the crate over to the
gallery. One thing she always prided herself on was her mutant ability. Her
ability allowed her to use her hair as a weapon, to let it grow as short, or
long, as needed. It was an extra limb, and with the strength to support a
building. Her hair grabbed the crate and she carried it through the museum
to the Gallery of Demons.
She placed the crate down and opened it up. She looked at the thing.
It appeared that the demon had an elephant's nose, and mouths on its hands.
"What a hideous creature. No wonder it's a demon. Looks like something
Giger would have dreamed up. When the museum opens, I'll have to show this
to Rich." She checked her watch and notice that it was near lunch time. She
decided to get the statue out of the crate after she got her lunch in. She
and Kyuukai were having lunch together today.
Cartier St. Croix had to admit that Miss Cale had a unique idea for a
museum, and her intentions were good. Ever since Onslaught, this town, the
sole safehaven for mutants, was losing financially. Godiva Cale said that
she was going to donate half the money the museum made to the town's defense
fund. He was just heading to one of the exhibits, the one on
Extraterrestrial Life, when Godiva ran up to him and said, "Mr. St. Croix, I
would like to show you the recent addition I just received."
"I guess there is no harm in seeing it." He had to admit that his
curiosity was peaked when he first found out about this museum. He had found
out about it on the Internet, and decided to contribute to the building. He
followed Godiva through the exhibits until they reached the Gallery of Demons.
This was one of her favorite exhibits, due to the statues.
She opened the doors and said, "Are you sure you haven't seen it,
because the crate has been removed." He noticed that she ran down the hall
and stopped at a statue. When he finally saw what the statue was, his blood
ran cold. It wasn't a statue, but all too real. She looked at him and said,
"What do you think?"
He turned to her. He knew what this was. He said, "Godiva, I want
you to make a call to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. They have to
get down here, and quickly."
She looked at him, puzzlingly, and said, "Why? And you know if they
do come, I need to send pendants for their security in the area." He
remembered that it had taken some time to receive his pendant. The town
protected it's people with the pendants. They allowed all mutants, and
pro-mutant activists to have protection by the law. He hoped that it would
not take too long, because he knew what was wrong.
He looked at her and said, "Just call and tell them that I told you
to call. Tell them there is a family problem down here. They will
understand, and mention my name." She nodded and ran off, probably to a
secret passage that led to her office. Cartier St. Croix looked at the
statue and said, "Son, if you kill any mutant here, I will make sure that you
can't feed off another mutant ever again." He turned and left the room. He
could swear that he could hear Marius laughing at him.
**************************************************************
Sean Cassidy was in his office at Xavier's School for Gifted
Youngsters. He had asked Rich to help him with finding information of
anything similar to Monet. "I hope ye know what ye are looking for?"
Richard Cale, the oldest student, when it came to age, was always
willing to help. "No problem, Sean. It is rare, although, that I am in a
neutral state like this."
Sean let a small laugh out and said, "Lad, ye and Yvette have been
inseparable. Rich, I was also wondering, do ye have any other things ye
should tell us about your family. I mean, it has been a week since Aura
attacked."
Rich replied, "I am on no ill terms with any of my cousins. There is
only one other mutant cousin that I have and that is.." The ringing on
Sean's vid phone cut the sentence short.
Sean walked over to his vid phone, and hit the receive button. On
the screen appeared a brunette, about eighteen years of age. The girl said,
"Excuse me, is this the Xavier School?"
There was a look of concern in her eyes, but it had the look of confusion
with it.
"Aye, this is the Xavier School. I'm Sean Cassidy, headmaster of the
school."
"My name is Godiva Cale, and I was told to contact you."
Sean was about to say something, when he noticed Rich waving his arms.
Sean realized that Godiva had no knowledge that Rich was at the school. He
then said, "What do ye need?"
"Mr. Cassidy, a recent arrival at my museum has caused one of my
benefactors to urge me to call you. His name is Cartier St. Croix."
Sean realized that that must be were Monet's father had disappeared
to, but why the call. Sean decided to ask why Godiva Cale was calling the
school. "Miss Cale, why call for us?"
"Mr. St. Croix said it was a family problem."
Sean had an idea what was going on. "We'll be there immediately."
"I'm afraid that is not possible. Easton has some laws about mutants.
To ensure the safety of mutants, all mutants, and pro-mutant supporters have
to wear a pendant. Easton is the only mutant safehaven in the world, and we
hate anyone who is anti-mutant. How many pendants will you need?"
Sean thought it out in his head, one for him and Emma. One for each
student. He looked at Rich, and Rich shook his head. Of course Rich
wouldn't need a pendant, he was a citizen of Easton. He then said, "Fourteen,
but you might want to rush them here. We will get there as soon as we can."
"Thank you, sir. I shall send them out immediately." The line was
disconnected, and Sean was looking at Rich.
Rich watched as the call ended. What has Godiva gotten herself into,
but she didn't know about Emplate. His line of thought was cut short when
Sean said, "Is Godiva a relation, or am I dreaming."
Rich looked at Sean and said, "Godiva is my cousin. She is also
Bastion's biological daughter, which means that Daria's past is hush hush."
"But lad, how could she afford a museum?"
Rich knew he had to explain that much. "The Cale family is a very
well off family. When our grandfather passed away, each child and grandchild
got a share of the inheritance. At the time, there were only four
benefactors, my father, myself, Godiva, and her brother. This was all after
Bastion faked his death, so he cheated himself out of a nice amount of money.
Godiva said she was going to build a museum of stuff she loved in life."
"But what about her, in general. Is she a mutant?"
"Godiva is a mutant. Her ability is to manipulate her hair like
Angelo manipulates his skin. Since we are relatives, she cannot use her hair
on me. I once put my hand near her hair, and it just formed a pocket around
it. I could not touch her hair."
Sean then asked the question that Rich didn't want to hear. "Do you
think that Emplate is at her museum?"
Rich knew the answer to that. "If Emplate is there, which I believe
he is, he is trying to capture me, and where I go, he knows that Yvette will
follow." Rich knew that the way he said it, it sounded like a death sentence.
Sean walked over to him, stopping just outside the radius that was
the limits of Rich's powers. "What do you think will happen if we don't go?"
Rich looked at Sean and said, "We should talk with Emma. This is
something we need to talk about with her." Rich then went out the door and
headed to her office, with Sean following him.
Emma Frost had been in a mad search for a while. She was trying to
locate Cartier St. Croix. She called his Algerian residence, but they said
he wasn't there. She tried all her connections and still couldn't locate
him. She called Monet in, in the hopes that Monet could enlighten her on the
location of her father. She looked at her secretive student and said, "Now,
Monet, could you give me any idea on the location of your father?"
Monet looked at her and said, "I don't know how to answer that, Ms.
Frost. The truth is that when my father finds out about a project for a good
cause, he tend to donate and help in person. I guess you want to ask him
about the deal with 'us'." Monet was always a smart girl, but then, she had
the minds of two girls.
"Monet, it was almost a week since we have found out about you and
Claudia. You hid the fact that you and Emplate were related. I want to know
if there are any more surprises that your family has?"
Emma knew Monet was about to continue when Sean and Rich entered the
room. Rich walked over to the corner, but the way he carried himself
suggested that something had happened in the family. She asked "Rich, what
is wrong? Is something wrong in the family?"
Instead of Rich answering, Sean answered by saying, "We just got a
call from Godiva Cale."
"Is that Rich's mother?"
Rich spoke up for the first time since he entered the room. "Godiva
is my cousin. This appears to be a big family problem."
Emma was surprised by this, "Rich, did your parents tell her to
call?"
The answer surprised her, as well as Monet. "No. Besides, the
family problem isn't a Cale problem, it's a St. Croix problem."
Monet realized what Rich was talking about. Ever since Rich joined
the school, and started to date Yvette, her brother has made it part of his
mission to get Yvette back, and in the process, capture Rich. Her mind was
thinking quick and she said, "He must be using this to lure you into a trap,
Rich."
Rich glanced at her and said "I know. Emplate is trying to drag me
off campus, away from the school grounds."
"Then, we should get to the museum right away."
She was surprised by what Rich said next. "Unfortunately, we can't
go down to the museum until the pendants arrive." Why would Rich put his
cousin at an unnecessary risk?
"Rich, we could save her life before Emplate can try anything."
Rich shook his head and said, "No, you don't understand the situation.
If we left now, only I would be able to enter the town." He pulled out a
pendant that she had never seen before. He then said, "You see this pendant.
It is a pendant that every one in Easton wears. It is the symbol of the town,
interlaced with the symbol of mutants. These pendants are worn to safeguard
the good mutants of the town, as well as the people who support mutants.
People who want to move there go through a screening process, to insure
mutant safety. Tourist have to sign an agreement if they stay for longer
than a day. That town is proud to be pro mutant, mainly because of it's four
founding families have mutants in them. Any one of them can obtain pendants
for guests at any time. I, as well as Godiva, am part of those families. I
don't have the sway, and I don't want my family to know about Emplate, so we
have to wait."
Monet was totally appalled by the way he was thinking. He was
willing to let his cousin become a meal for Emplate. She looked at him and
said, "You can't be serious about that. He'll kill her, and you know that."
"Listen 'girls'," he shouted, and she shut up. "I don't care what
you think we should do, but remember this, if your brother is after me, he
knows that killing Godiva is one way to insure him his death." Rich walked
out of the room, but he said, "I don't know how much he is willing to do, but
he has a smorgishboard in Easton. I hope that she sends those pendants
immediately."
As Rich left the room, Sean walked over to her and said, "If ye ask
me lass, he treated ye a bit harshly." She knew what he was referring to,
the girls comment.
"It's alright. I just hope that those pendants arrive soon." Deep
in thought, she knew that Rich must have a reason for his choice. She knew
he must be right about Emplate, but how could her brother survive so long
without supping.
*******************************************************************
Yvette looked out the window of the plane. She marveled at the sight
of flying above the world. The last time she was on a plane was when they
went to Ireland, but this time was different. This time, she had Rich to
keep her company. The two had sat together when they got on the plane. She
knew that they were heading for Rich's hometown, but she was still unclear
why. All she knew was that Rich had mentioned his cousin Godiva, and a
possible threat of Emplate. This frightened her abit, but she wasn't too
scared. Rich had been staying close to her since they left the school. She
looked at him, took his hand, and said, "Will we meet your family?"
Rich turned and looked her in her eyes. "Just Godiva. If Emplate is
there, I don't want everyone finding out about him."
"You're concerned about your cousin. Were you that close?" She
noticed the worry in his tone. She recognized the tone of concern, as that
of a sibling.
Rich looked into her eyes and said, "Godiva was like a sibling to me.
She was the one who fueled my interest in the paranormal, science fiction,
and some of the artwork."
Yvette then saw something in his eyes she was well aquainted with.
She decided to mentally ask this, for it was probably best. {Rich, what are
you afraid of?}
He let a sad look cross his face. {Love, I'm afraid that Emplate is
not alone in this. I'm afraid that he has Elane with him.}
She started to get scared. More than a week ago, she and Rich were
almost captured by Aura. They thought that Emplate had been using her to
capture them. If she was still around, they were in worse trouble that ever.
{Rich, do you think that he has enthralled her?}
He tensed up when he said his next words. {I'm more scared that with
the evil in her, that they fell in love.} She tensed up with that. Yvette
thought of how nasty Emplate was before, but with Aura and Emplate together,
were their days free numbered?
She hugged Rich and said, {Please, don't ever let me be capture by
them.}
He returned the hug and said, {You promise the same.} They sat there,
in the plane, scared that their days were numbered. Yvette looked over to
her friends and realized how they must have appeared. It was known that they
were in love, but sometimes it surprised everyone when they were like this.
Jubilee looked away from her friends for a moment. She had glanced
over in Penny's direction, wondering if she was scared about Emplate. The
fact that Penny had tensed up was not surprising, although she was less
afraid of Emplate lately. She then noticed that both Rich and Penny were
hugging, and tense. Rich was the major factor in her recovering from
Emplate's control over her. Rich was also Penny's boyfriend, and it was
obvious that Rich enjoyed her company. This time, however, Jubilee worried
about her adopted sister, and for Rich. It was obvious that if Emplate was
in Rich's hometown, and where his cousin resided, Emplate was planning to
capture both Rich and Penny. Rich had shown no fear in going, but now both
he and Penny were scared. Jubilee turned back to her friends and said, "I
think something has the happy couple spooked."
Everett, her boyfriend as of recently, glanced at them and said,
"What do you think has scared them? The fact that Emplate is down there."
She had to admit that had her abit spooked, but Everett had more to worry
about. He had been like Emplate for a time.
Angelo then said, "You don't think that part of it might be related
to Aura?" Jubilee thought in horror at that. Could that have been how
Emplate found out about Rich's cousin Godiva.
Jubilee turned to the group and said, "If that is the case, do you
think that they are afraid that their freedom is limited? I mean, if I knew
that Sabertooth and Emplate teamed up, well.."
"I doubt that is the case," Monet interrupted. Jubilee was trying to
coupe with the fact Monet was not a sixteen years old girl, but two eight
year olds. The girl, or girls, still had a lot to learn. "My brother never
was the forgiving type."
It was then that Jono decided to speak. {Maybe, but what if he read
the information. He does have that knowledge on sight. Maybe he found out
about Godiva from that.} Jono always had a troubled outlook on life, but
this didn't have that tone to it.
Paige then said, "Jono's right. If you think about it, Emplate might
have even found out about Godiva from Rich himself." Paige had gotten back
together with Jono after Aura attacked. She was injured, but all of the
injuries had healed.
Jubilee then said, "I don't know. Rich and Penny are scared of
something. Besides, that is not the only problem." They all looked at her
in puzzlement. She then continued, "If you all remember, Bastion was Rich's
uncle, and apparently Godiva's father."
Jubilee noticed that Monet understood quicker than anyone else, for
she was the one who said, "What do we say about Daria?" They all glanced
over to the new student. Daria, who had only been at the school a week, had
learned to use her abilities to create an appearance of hair. Jubilee had to
wonder at how they were going to explain how Daria joined the school.
Mondo looked at Daria and wondered what was bothering her. Ever
since Rich said that they were heading for his hometown, Daria had a look of
worry on her face. He walked over to her and said, "What is wrong?" He
always worried when someone was worried.
Daria looked at him in surprise. She then said, "I was just wondering
about how Godiva will handle the deal with me. I mean, I am under the care
of Rich, thanks to Bastion. Bastion was her father, and I don't think she
will like that. Also, I'm part Sentinel. I might get a cold reception."
Mondo put an arm around her and said, "Don't worry. The world has a
way of having things work out. Besides, you are not a machine once you have
a heart."
Daria looked at him and smiled. "I guess your right about that, but
that doesn't solve the problem of what to tell Godiva? Rich told me that he
thought Bastion committed suicide, but he was shook up when he discovered the
truth. How would Godiva react?"
Mondo thought about it and said, "I don't know. She might be happy
to have a little sister. I also wonder if that was why Bastion took care of
you. He had a daughter, and he might have thought of you as his daughter."
Mondo noticed that Daria then looked at him puzzlingly. "Mondo, can
you read minds?"
"Not that I'm aware of, why?"
"Because, I was wondering if I should think of her as a sister of
sorts." It was obvious that Daria was worried about this.
He decided to comfort her worries. "I think Rich knows what to do."
Sean looked out into the cabin of the plane. He noticed how Daria
was worried about something, possibly the fact that she was meeting Bastion's
daughter. He saw how the little ones hadn't a care in the world. He notice
the others talking, but his main concern was Yvette and Rich. He couldn't
help but worry that he was delivering them into Emplate's clutches. He could
tell they were scared. He was almost surprised when Emma walked up behind
him and said, "Worried about Rich and Yvette?"
He didn't look back, but he said, "Were ye reading my mind?" He
sometimes wondered if she still did use her mind reading abilities.
Emma put a hand on his shoulder and said, "No, because I'm worried
about them, too. I can't help but think about that nightmare Yvette had. I
hate to think that I would hand them over to Emplate, and here we are,
possibly handing them to Emplate."
Sean didn't want to think of that. "Ye have a way of looking at the
negative, don't ye? We are heading to Easton to save Rich's cousin from
Emplate. We won't let them get injured or threatened at all."
"Then why are they so tense, Sean?" Sean knew that the two were
scared of something, and since the past attack, he wondered if it had
anything to do with Aura.
"Emma, do ye think that they are afraid that Aura might be around?"
He had to admit that knowing that Rich's evil cousin was willing to kill him
was unnerving. He thought of the times that Juggernaut had attack the X-Men.
He wondered if Aura was that bad.
Emma looked at him and said, "If Aura is still around, the two of
them are in worse trouble then we thought."
"Emma, I'm not going to let anything happen to either of them." He
knew he was in charge of all the children's safety, some of which already had
legal guardians, or of age.
"Rich is old enough to take care of himself, Sean."
"But Yvette isn't. I missed out on raising me daughter, and I got a
second chance in Yvette. I think that when we get back to the school, I'm
going to adopt the lass."
"Sean, I hope you get the chance." Emma then went to the cockpit.
Deep inside, Sean hoped he would have the chance as well.
