2013.10.21 - Pestilence and Famine

All Hallow's Eve is on its way to the City. Storefronts are covered with the theme, and there are actually pumpkins that are scattered throughout the boroughs as decoration. One can even find a gourd or two on a street-vendor's table with various paintings on the side; Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building.

Now, Kurt has his hand in a few things, mostly from St. Patricks. One of those is actually making contact with the Parks Department and the MoMA people to set up something spooky at the City's one and only Belvidere Castle. After all, what could be spookier than Halloween in a medieval Castle?

But first! It must be investigated as only a blue, fuzzy, half-demon elf can. At night. With no one else around except, perhaps, another blue, fuzzy, only-a-quarter-demon elfess. -ette?

Now in the catacombs beneath (who knew they where there?!), Kurt is on the side of the wall, his tail freed from the bounds of a stupid image inducer. Crawling across the wall, he breaks into a run, hand over hand in that 'vertically challenged' sort of way, a laugh in his voice.

"How far does this go?"

Not far from the Bamfer perches another one of those dark blue creatures, it's like they're being cloned in a lab or something! TJ's got herself adhered to the opposite wall, effortlessly keeping pace with the four-limbed gallop down into the darkness. They don't have much trouble seeing where they're going, and being able to hide in the murkiness down here is second nature to them both!

"Man, people sure had a lot of free time before that whole internet thing," she offhandedly remarks while leaping from one wall to the other in order to duck around another bend in the narrow tunnel. "I still think it'd be fun, Dad. C'mon. Purple dye! Halloween! We could always go red, if purple's too girly for ya?"

The timeline-displaced mutant bounces from the wall to the ceiling to the floor, perched in a low crouch with a stupid grin and a playful to-and-fro flick of a spade-tipped tail. "Maybe black? Black's thematically appropriate. Look like we just cleaned someone's chimney."

"Do I get a vote?"

The voice drifts from much further down the corridor, echoing off the walls, distorting the smooth tone into something more tinny and hollow. "I've always been fond of black and red... But I think for you," suddenly the source of the voice emerges from around a corner, apparently unwilling to risk the cover of darkness to a pair of mutants with nightvision. He's tall, bedecked in black and red, a segmented cape trailing from his shoulders, and his skin is unnaturally pale with a small red diamond on his forehead. Mister Sinister himself...

"For you," he points to Nightcrawler, "I think green. And for you," Nocturne now, "Black will do nicely." He breaks out into an incredibly wicked grin, just as a BAMF sounds behind him and none other than Vanisher rises up out of some red smoke. And then there's another BAMF as another Vanisher appears next to the first.

Then one behind them. Then two. Then four.

"I believe you've met my friend..."

"Purple? That'd be.. not right," Kurt pulls up to a halt rather suddenly as the choice colours are offered. "Red, that would be a little over the top, don't you think? The whole 'demon' und 'red' thing. It's been done to death."

On his way once again, as TJ leaps from one side, Kurt leaps to the other, crisscrossing in the center, never touching the ground. "Black would be fi--"

Was?

The sound of a voice that didn't come from either blue elf(ette) stops Nightcrawler in his tracks once again, still sticking to the side of the cool, stone wall. Staring as the origin of that voice makes himself known, glowing golden yellow eyes narrow, and his tail whips back and forth as they're addressed.

"Nein. Green would make me--"

BAMF!

Wait... wait...

Bamf?!

That's his sound!

Bamf?!

"What are you doing? That's my-- oh, mein Gott." If anyone is going to go so low as to copy his bamf? It'd be the Vanisher.

"TJ," Kurt lowers his voice, "There are rats in this cellar."

Squeak..?!

TJ's got one hand already on the wall beside her, ready to climb right back up when a -third- voice calls out by a man soon to reveal himself to the pair. It only takes a moment for the -other- set of glowing yellow eyes to go from wide to narrow.

She knows this man. Not -this- one from -this- reality, but she's brushed shoulders with his alter egos before. (Man, if they ever found out about the other versions of themselves there'd be no end to the madness.)

"No one invited you, Sinister."

On the inside, she's slightly more concerned. Her own teleportation's not going to be very useful down here but she's gotten by just fine without it for years. -Years!- A little hex boltage, a little possession... She'll have this guy whistling Dixie in no time.

Quite literally. If she can take over the guy that's exactly what she's going to do. Then again, there is a slight problem with that plan.

Vanisher. Clones..?

"Big, ugly, foul-smelling rats," she confirms while shifting away from the wall. Her hands are free and ready, gods know there's a lot of creeps to blast in these tunnels. "Starting to feel a little crowded down here."

In other words, let's teleport to nicer locales! She's already prepped to snag the Kurt by the tail, express elevator straight to ground. Or castle. Or anywhere other than here.

"Ah, so you know my name as well," Sinister answers back to TJ, "You're not the first, and you certainly won't be the last. An alternate timeline, I'm assuming? At least that was the case with the first. No matter." He snaps his fingers and two of the six Vanisher's appear behind TJ, while another two appear behind Kurt, both pairs reaching out to try and grab hold of their respective targets. The last two seem to be on guard duty, lingering just behind and to the side of their master.

"I'll have all the answers soon enough. Now, I'd advice coming along nice and quietly, we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, after all... I know I don't," As he speaks, Sinister's mind reaches out across the gap towards Nocturne in an attempt to burst through whatever defences and sieze control. "Do not fight. It's easier just to give in. You can't possibly stand against me and what I represent."

The thought is all well and good about going to warmer climes, as it were, only that there are now clones that are closing in on them. Leaping from his spot, Kurt is more than ready to try and engage the pair with a good roundhouse kick.

"You took my bamf!" That deserves some physical response!

...coming along nice and quietly never sounds good. Never promising, and never is as advertised. That gains 'dad's attention immediately.

"Grab my tail, Herzchen!" is given, the first consideration in his mind is to get her to safety.

"Oh please, how could I -not- know you? You're a walking cliche if there ever was one," TJ counters.

Baddies, six o'clock! Twelve o'clock! They're coming out of the gorram walls!

'You can't possibly stand against me and what I represent.' "Yeah, that may be so, but --"

Blink. -Stare.-

Talia is, at best, an amateur telepath. As in, there's a little something there, little enough that she usually needs to be plugged into Cerebro to actually transmit anything to another individual. Sinister, -this- Sinister, can run laps around her poor, confused little mind without even trying. The effect is similar to deer in headlights, except that the headlights also happen to be the eyes in question. There she stays, crouched in a defensive posture despite having a completely blank expression in place. As far as mutant fights go this may well be one of the quickest Checks in history.

Check, but not quite Checkmate. That is, only if Kurt can nab her and bamf them out of there. Because this girl? Not moving on her own power anymore.

Talk about cheap moves... Not fair!

With Vanisher playing his part, and Sinister locking down TJ's neural pathways to keep her from making a move, check becomes checkmate. The teleporting clones pile on Nocturne even while their counterparts fight desperately to keep Daddy Blue busy. With two more BAMFs, Sinister's laughter fills the narrow corridor and it becomes all too apparent why.

After years of research and study, Sinister managed to isolate and manipulate the infamous X-gene present in over half the world's mutant population. Compared to the metagene, it was, in his mind, the more practical of the two, and subject to a wider variation. It was, for his purposes, perfect. What he also managed to glean from his studies, though, was how to turn it off. Specifically, how to turn it off with his /mind/.

"I'd give up now, unless you'd like to see, what I can only imagine to be your relative, lying lifeless at your feet," Sinister calls out to Kurt, his hand around TJ's throat, the Vanisher clones assigned to her having teleported the younger BAMFer right into his grip. Her mind is her own again, beyond the single mental chain that binds her to Sinister, a chain that seems to be entirely devoted to keeping her from activating her powers. "You can try and get to her first, of course, but I think you've noticed by now that my friends have a slightly better attunement to that dimension you both traverse. They may not be your physical match, but they can certainly delay you long enough for me to snap her neck. Unless, of course, you're willing to hear me out?"

It's a losing battle, it really is. While Kurt can fight the likes of Wolverine to a stalemate (thanks to teleporting and the byproduct of sulfur!), he's going to miss one or two strikes to his person.

It's when he gets to his daughter to bamf her out that he sees through those yellow eyes to nothingness beyond. That stays his teleporting. How to fix something like that?

"Talia!" is called out, but in those next few precious seconds, she's back, but now?

Kurt stops his fighting long enough to stand now on the ground, his tail whipping about like a cable snapped. "Don't you hurt a piece of fuzz on that body. Or.." Isn't that what is always said in times like these?

"Attunement? Was? To--" Hell? Kurt shows fangs, now, angry, and he sounds a threatening note, "I don't think the hellbeasts and other fell creatures follow your commands." He smiles, and it's not a pretty one. "Do we wish to find out?"

Well. That didn't take long, did it? TJ hates being the weakest link but that's the first thought on her mind the instant she comes to and finds a hand locked around her neck. And absolutely no use of any of her mutant powers.

No... Wait. Absolutely no use of her X-Gene. If one were to split hairs, there is a difference. Right now she's more than happy to shave slivers off of that fine blue hair.

No teleporting. No hex bolts. No possession. There's other tricks which are physical and not based off of powers. Her night vision, for example.

And those micro-suction discs.

She's never completely out of options (thank you, X-Men training.) Now glaring directly at Sinister she reaches out to place her hands on either side of his face. Not even violently. But enough that thousands of microscopic suction pads would be able to adhere to his skin.

"Ever wonder what you'd look like without a face?"

Desperate times, desperate measures. Maybe she wouldn't really go through with it but she's well enough aware of the alternative if they can't escape this guy!

"By all means," Sinister replies with a pleasant smile on his face, just as his fingers tighten around TJ's throat. "You can call them here, tear me to pieces, slaughter my friends, it makes no difference, because it'll take me only a second to snap her neck but there's next to nothing you can do to kill me." As if to demonstrate, he smiles down to TJ as her hands reach both sides of his face, a face which promptly bubbles away into nothing but smoke while the rest of his body remains solid -- disconcerting to be sure. And then, all at once, his head is back to normal. "Ultimate control of every molecule in my body. You're more than welcome to tear my face off if it'll make you feel any better. It won't do you any good in the long run, however." Still, he smiles that pleasant smile as if nothing more exciting than a friendly conversation is occuring in the tunnels beneath New York.

"No, I'd take you to them," Kurt begins, but then, he's not entirely certain he's willing to bet his speed on Talia's life. The face bubbling, however, is pretty gruesome, and there's a step taken forward, his tail whipping out to try and catch a hand that lies upon his daughter's neck.

"Stop." The word is both a concession and a command, all in one.

"There is a time for moving, meine Herzchen, und a time to stop to see where we are." And where they are is not in a good position, to say the least.

"What is it you are looking for?"

Face. Smoke. Yelp! TJ's hands dart away from what had once been a solid portion of Sinister, not really sure what to make of his demonstration other than to be freaked out by it! (Okay, so maybe he does know what he looks like without a face.)

Not a lot of words are offered to counter the reaction, however. With extra pressure brought around her neck she opts to latch onto the man's forearm instead, tail lashing around behind her as tiny fangs come to bare.

"Gettin'..a little hard to breathe, here..." Maybe 'hearing him out' is in their best interest, after all? They might be -ever- so slightly out-classed. Just a little.

"Why..must you be... -So damn creepy?!-"

All of those Vanisher copies aren't helping, either. One of them earns her glare soon enough. "Oh go stare somewhere else, Slimeball."

Sinister's smile broadens as both Kurt and TJ seem to be at least temporarily giving in. When the former's tail whips out towards his hand, though, a Vanisher clone steps in and takes the hit himself, before two more close on Kurt threateningly. "Now, now. No need for violence you two. Didn't you hear him? They're ready to talk." His hand loosens a bit, allowing TJ a little more air so she doesn't outright pass out on him, and while he begins to speak to both of them, his eyes remain locked on Kurt, "I have a bit of a... proposal for you. It may not seem like it now, but I am, in fact, a friend to mutants. I have only the best intentions at heart, though my methods may, at times, seem harsh."

He grins, using his free hand to gesture broadly to his side, an open gesture, "I want to help you. Both of you. It is within my power to... Well... Empower you. To give you strength like you've never had before. I only ask that you do one small favor for me, first."

"I want you to end the world."

Kurt takes another step towards Sinister and his daughter, and as the hand loosens its hold on her throat, no longer constricting her airway quite so badly, those golden yellow eyes flicker from the madman to TJ, and back. "Snake in the garden," Kurt murmurs, his fangs still showing. His tail ceases that lashing, with the spaded tip resting for the moment near the ground.

"End the world?" The fuzzy blue elf stares for a long, lingering moment, trying to understand exactly what it is the man means. "Nothing could make me want to do that for you."

Nothing.

Pretty powerful word there.

What would he do, say, for TJ's life? What sort of man would he be, much less Catholic?

"I don't need strength like I've never had before. I don't want it." How's that for negotiation?

"You want -us-... To end the world," TJ slowly repeats. It's quickly followed up with nearly hysterical laughter, which, in turn, quickly dies out as she mutters "You were being serious, weren't you." (Good thing Kurt's mother isn't here!)

"Look, Sinnie..we're kinda the -good- guys, here. Bringing about the whole 'end of days' thing really isn't in our job descriptions. And, unlike someone else here," she continues with something of a short but forced laugh, "we're pretty content in our own abilities. If you're feeling inadequate, well..you can just rebuild yourself now, can't you? In which case, you don't even need us. Go play with your army of icky knock-off teleporters, they look like they're used to being tampered with."

Kurt's own words she couldn't agree with more, except for that whole 'hand on neck' situation.

"Okay, let's..not be too hasty here, Kurt..." Dad.

Squirm.

"Ah well, that is a shame," Sinister clucks back at Kurt, actually looking a bit crestfallen when he turns to eye TJ. Immediately, the Vanisher clones slowly begin to approach Nightcrawler as Sinister continues speaking, "If /nothing/ can convince you, I suppose I no longer need this one then, do I?" Again, his hand begins to tighten, his disappointed frown brightening into something more akin to a sadistic grin. "What about you? What would you do for your own life? Strength, power, freedom to avenge yourself on all those who have done you harm. Surely someone sticks out? Someone's mocked you for your appearance, targeted you simply because you were different? All you need to do is wipe them away. Isn't that a good thing? Especially since you'll get to live..." Tighter and tighter. Something better give before it happens to be TJ's neck.

Kurt backs away from the approaching Vanishers, only to rapidly teleport from the floor to the wall, the ceiling, and from there, hopefully to drop down to the floor once more, closer to Talia.

His Talia! If anything happened to her, Kurt knows that he'd never forgive himself. In oh so many ways.

"Don't."

Life means there's a way out. Always. Death, well. That's pretty damned constant (unless one is a ), as far as he's concerned. Death is death.

"Let her go, und I will do it." Please. His voice rises in the strain, and he repeats himself.

"I will do it. Don't make her."

Gulp.

The Vanisher clones don't bother TJ. Kurt can handle those fools! (Right?) What concerns her is the guy standing before her, offering her power to take out revenge on those have wronged her, while slowly crushing her neck. Yeah, she can think of -one- guy she wouldn't mind kicking the pants off of, come to think of it... Of course, Sinister's telepathic. That thought might be difficult to keep from his notice.

"Black -is- a pretty..fetching color..." she says through a tightened jaw as the rapid beating of her own heart starts to pulse within her temples from the constriction. "Just..have to ask..if we're destroying the world..what's left in it for us? For you? I'm open to potential opportunities, here..!"

Just hang in there, delicate vertebrae!

The tightening ceases, but the pressure doesn't slacken as Sinister's sadistic grin shifts straight into a pleased smile. "Wonderful! I'm glad we could all begin to see reason, however... I'm afraid I need both of you. What's it going to be? A little PTSD or a crushed windpipe? It's all or nothing, unfortunately. Fate does have a way of conspiring against us, doesn't it?" Sinister's eyes are once more locked on Kurt, but he responds to TJ all the same, "I'm glad you asked! Perhaps destroying the world is a bit of an overstatement. I simply want you to bring about... near destruction. You see, evolution has a way of... speeding up, becoming far more potent in the most extreme environments on Earth. So, to facilitate a mass progression of the species, I plan on making all of Earth an extreme environment. When the world is just where I want it, you may have it back. Rule over it as you see fit. Give it back to the people, I don't care. I only want to see the human race evolve. Survival of the fittest, and all that."

And when they're in their 'new bodies', Kurt will be in a position where he would be more able to fight off this... creature in the guise of a man. Even now, the former X-Man's thoughts are racing. Where there is life, there is hope. Where there is hope, there is the chance to succeed.

"Fate actually doesn't conspire against us. I think you're just a little paranoid there."

Still, the elf's slight slouch in his shoulders, and the dip in the tail pretty much indicate that he's listening, and is in a position that he doesn't particularly care for.

But, TJ's life is on the line.

Does this count as a mortal sin? Or could he plea bargain it down to a venial?

The more it's explained, however, the more it looks as if excommunication is in the books for the elf. It certainly is a grave matter, and he's going into it with full knowledge. And, he is consenting (coersion not withstanding.)

Lifting his hand to the cross he wears around his neck, Kurt murmurs, "Forgive me, Father, for I am about to sin."

"Oh, is -that- all?" TJ asks through a forced smile while continuing to stare back at Sinister. "That's a lot more relaxed than trying to crash the moon into the planet, or something. Admittedly this place could stand to see a little crowd control. I mean, just look at Times Square! Never expect to survive that with my tail still intact."

The telepathic sort would probably see right through it, if her words of open agreement aren't suspect enough. Talia's looking for a way through this. It's clearly not going to happen here and now, but, if they play along for a while they may find their opportunity down the road. Together, as a team! They can handle this! They just need that moment when Sinister's proverbial (or perhaps literal) back is turned.

Escaping is a lot easier than resurrection, after all.

"So..what say we stop slowly killing off my braincells from oxygen deprivation and pass around some more constructive ideas, yeah..?"

Then Kurt makes his confession. TJ knows where his head is at, and that alone is a chilling discovery. This..is really going to happen, isn't it.

It's called the lesser of two evils, not the lesser of two Sinisters.

Sinister watches them both, and indeed, it's a simple matter for him to see straight through TJ's compliance. He doesn't even need it really, but it makes things easier, less risk... "Excellent..." This time, it's almost a whisper as his victory is assured, at least for now. He snaps his fingers and the Vanisher clones each move to place a single hand on Kurt while Sinister's fingers loosen around Nocturne's neck, but don't yet release her. "I think we'll all learn to get along, really I do," Sinister declares, perhaps a bit more optimistically then strictly required. "Now, let's get started."

All at once, they teleport. Not through the dimension the three teleporters are actually used to, but propelled by some unearthly technology that lands them straight into the belly of the beast.

Literally. It looks like they've arrived inside of something, rather than somewhere. The walls themselves are alive and reach out to snare the limbs of Sinister's guests, restraining them with a strength that exceeds even his own while a pair of helmet like appendages emerge from the ceiling to try and suction onto TJ and Kurt's heads.

Kurt stands there, watching as Sinister's hand loosens its grasp on his daughter's neck just a little more even as the hands begin to be placed upon him. His tail snaps around, ready to take on the world, as it were, as if embued with a mind and life of its own. He stops it, however, and with those fateful words, Let's get started, Nightcrawler stares at the man.

The teleportion is... strange, to him. He's done his own, obviously, and he's teleported in a mode borne of magic. Technological teleportation is strange to him, to say the least, and it leaves him feeling a little dizzy. Disorientated. It's oddly... unnatural.

Once they arrive, Kurt keeps his footing, though it takes a moment for things to actually focus for him. Strange thing for a mutant that travels through HELL itself. (There's a joke in there about going to Hell and back.)

The moment they do arrive, however, Kurt sucks in a breath, and whispers, "Gott im Himmel." Strange that the elf that just agreed to virtually destroy the world still calls upon the being that he's 'working against'. Perhaps a 'Zum Teufel' would have been more appropriate?

"Was ist.."

A surprised yell exits the blue, fuzzy mutant's throat as he's grappled and held by forces that exude from the walls themselves! Once again, the struggle begins. Fight or flight. The fear factor is up again, and while it's undoubtedly futile, it is there.

"Talia!"

Could he have said that any more creepy-like, 'Excellent?' Seriously, this guy should be giving Mister Burns lessons. Except that people might stop watching The Simpsons then. Though, to be fair, they probably should have stopped watching that ten years ago.

Always think of the positives, Teej!

When he mentions them all getting along Talia offers a sheepish smile, "Do we still get holidays off?"

Teleporting. Familiar to these two, except when it isn't via magic or X-Gene. Still, point to her, TJ's mind is focused and alert nearly the instant they materialize. Maybe because she's only a quarter demon, always knew that would come in handy! Still, it's..weird looking in this new place. Disturbing, unsettling. -Alien.- It doesn't stop her from attempting to teleport herself somewhere else, however.

Sinister's psychic hold on her X-Gene happens to do that.

It's almost like a Danger Room scenario, except that the results of failing around here are much more real. All she has time for is to reflexively yell out "Dad!" as the walls themselves reach out for the pair. There's nothing she can do about it, and even less once latched onto.

It's nice to know that some things remain consistent throughout the various dimensions. Apocalypse is a jerk. Do not taunt the Phoenix. Sinister is not to be reasoned with.

Ever.

When the 'helmets' come down, Sinister releases his mental link to Teej -- probably no small relief to her -- but unfortunately, another begins to worm its way into both of their minds, just as strong Sinister's and feeling pretty similar to his own. It seeks to accomplish the same task he did, shutting off their X-genes -- but it doesn't have the same finesse he does. For them, resistance only buys an all-out assault from the alien and foreign invader.

"I wouldn't fight. My base has been known to accidentally induce comas, though... I'm mostly sure I've worked that little bug out of its system. Still, not wise to tempt the beast, eh?" Sinister chuckles as if sharing a small joke with some work friends and he moves around to a nearby table where he snaps up a scalpel and returns to the pair. "It's time to go to sleep, but when you wake up, I assure you... You'll feel better than ever, and all thoughts of rebellion will be washed away like they never existed. It's better this way, trust me. When you wake up... You'll be ready to bring about Armageddon as my Harbingers."

He lightly taps Nocturne on the cheek with the blade, smiling, "See you soon, Famine."

Nightcrawler recieves only a grin, a grin that flashes with the true depths of Sinister's evil, "And you too, Pestilence."