((TBC: X-Hangar/Garage - Forge's Lab: Start of a New Beginning))


It hadn't occurred to Nicole that perhaps Forge could create something to help them. It wasn't obliviousness, not quite, she simply didn't know what the problem was. Or rather, how to articulate it into a solvable issue. If she couldn't figure out how to communicate what this very internal issue was, how could she think to search for help from any one party? All she knew was that somewhere between their minds and their mouths, something was missing. They could communicate mentally, but nothing comes out verbally/physically. It was as if, to put it simply, they had forgotten.

Maybe we did forget? It'd been ages after all, ages spent finding other venues of communication - sign language, drawing shapes, figures, and letters with their claws...usually only if they were outside. And who were they going to talk to outside? Themselves? Few people went to hunt the crimson mute on 'her turf'. In any case, it could be possible that it was as simple as that. They forgot. It could be as simple as re-teaching them how to talk, like very small children. Toddlers. Not much of a stretch as, in reality, the twins were barely kissing their pre-teens.

Even so, the concept sounded silly even to her young ears. Who forgets something like that anyway?

She was getting the sense that Mr. Forge was not accustomed to handling so many youths at once. Or maybe she was imagining the discomfort. True or not, she was focused on Claudette's discomfort. Or pain rather. He said, in response to her off-hand query, that he had aspirin. Could Claudette take aspirin. ~*I think so.*~ She didn't really know. As he kick everyone out of his workshop, she thought about it more. As Penance, the issue often resulted in them waiting it out. Before that? She couldn't remember giving Claudette aspirin.

She nodded anyway, wanting to try and see. If it turned out that it really did help..that'd be great. And so it went - the twins ended up curled up on the generous couches of the X-Mansion Living Room, not even making it upstairs to the dormitories. Claudette had been given the aspirin, some food, and curled up next to her twin. Both girls went to sleep.

---

Claudette's blank doe-brown eyes opened and scanned the room. She sensed something, some things. Some /people/; bad people. Her eyes sought out her twin. Protect. She huddled closer to Nicole, but sat up. She was trying to get a better fix, a better idea of what was happening. Threat? Yes, this was a threat. Claudette perked up more. She detected negativity - malicious intent. Several beacons...human. She could tell; they were humans. Why were humans here? Claudette recalled her last encounter with a human. He'd attacked her. That might be what these humans wanted. That man, Erik - Magneto - was not here to save her, to assist her this time. She'd have to do it alone. Brown eyes drifted over to her twin, who was frowning in her slumber.

Nicole could easily hear something weird outside. Whether that was due to her advanced hearing or not, it didn't really matter. Nicole woke up, noting an absence of complete warmth. Her sister's body was still very much near her, but not laying down and curled up with her. Claudette was awake. Nicole sat up, hearing more, which caused her to frown more. What was all that noise? It was irritating and she was having a decent sleep for once, completely free of nightmares or unpleasant memories masquerading as dreams. Were the adults back? She'd noticed some leaving in weird costumes. But they'd be back in cars, not...

Helicopters?

Already prone to worrying, Nicole's concern spiked and she whipped her head around to look at her twin. Claudette calmly looked her way. They were, of course, on the same page. Something was wrong here.

He was done. Period. Why did he want to break into this mansion and try to be stealthy when he had so much arsenal on him the muties in the mansion didn’t stand a chance? Oh this soldier heard all the rumors about mutants. How some of them could possess a man, explode a person, force flesh to peel off a child, or worse. But he didn’t believe any of it. Why should he? They were just scare tactics to scare the population into going against freaks. And this guy believed freaks should be put down as soon as possible. Hell, this guy didn’t even like the “retards” as he called them. Kill those with mental defects already. Let the strong flourish.

Leading a group of men through a window in a room, there was nothing here except frilly lace and a vanity set ripe to tip over. With the butt of his gun, the vanity set snapped a leg, toppling to the side, sending a wave of make-up crashing on the floor. He made sure his boots smeared the lipstick and foundation into the ground for a lasting impression. Stamping his feet into the woodwork, hoping for a reason to use all the weapons on him, his men flanked him on all sides as they stormed down the hallway. Feet slammed open doors, guns were poised to fire, but no shots were heard. For such a big place, there was a whole lot of nothing to find so far. Snapping his fingers, he pointed to the next room, and a man kicked open the door.

Nothing. With the dormitories swept, the pack of men headed downstairs, and finally the targets were sighted.

“FREEZE!”

The squad leader smiled. He stepped foot onto the main floor, gun drawn and ready to fire per his training. In the comfortable looking seats were two girls… twins… and every fantasy came flooding back into him. What guy could turn down a couple of hot twins? They were what, eighteen? Damn, they were fully developed too. He licked his lips behind his armor, but his men didn’t think the way he did. One already shot a volley of tranquilizer darts while other hands went about fetching grenades. This man stood there, eying both twins with lust covered in his hidden eyes. He was looking for a reason to use his arsenal, but he found something even better. Twins to use his arsenal on… in private.

Noise. Lights. Heavy steps. Talk, yells? Whirring? Loud whirring. That assessment, made with sensitive ears, was accurate enough. Accurate for the sounds of large blades mechanically being forced to chop through the air in order to support a metal structure that was never meant to be amongst the birds. Accurate for the sounds of people who weren't supposed to be here breaking in. Accurate for the malicious intent accompanied by attacks on the parts of grown adults against kids a fraction of their ages. Accurate for the one thing, it seems, the X-Men had never considered, never prepared for, never prepared /them/ for.

An attack on the mansion...against the children. They'd balk perhaps, Helix, at being called children. Nicole seemed to forget at times, her sister's behavior was consistent no matter their 'age'. But that's what this was, really. Trained, grown /humans/ against a house full of relatively inexperienced children. Some more exposed and aware of just how dirty this human vs. mutant deal was, others not. Some, most, all perhaps, understanding how it could tear families apart - literally, emotionally, mentally. Some just wanted a place to stay, others a place to train, others still just trying to figure that bit out. The twins only wanted to protect what was important, those who had become important.

Perhaps that would change today

They hadn't cared much about the human animosity thing, they'd always had animosity much closer to home than that. Only Claudette had been exposed, recently, to that and that had been a singular experience. And being autistic..it didn't make a huge impression. The threat, the problem, had been taken care of. If anything, she'd only remember the face, or presence, of the man who'd saved her. Interesting that, what would Magneto think of this event taking place? Perfect instance of 'I told you so'?

But that was besides the point. Soldiers were storming the mansion and taking prisoners. Of course, how would Helix know that? For all the kids knew, these people were here to kill them. Or maybe they'd come for the X-Men and they were to be leverage? Bait? ...collateral damage? Disclosing objectives wasn't a goal for these people though. This wasn't the movies and they weren't going to gloat in the form of a monologue. For these soldiers, these were kids - mutant, but still children. Easy pickings.

“FREEZE!”

But the twins had known that hostile forces were coming a ways before they'd shouted that phrase. Claudette stared blankly at them. They were more alike than one would initially think. Claudette, too, didn't see people. She saw threats, targets. And while their objective was to capture, she had no such thought. Capture and interrogate? Who would think of that? Not Claudette. She registered malicious intent. The lustful thoughts of the leader were foreign, odd, she didn't get it. He found them pleasing to look at. Okay, plenty of people did - had done so since they were little. So pretty, so cute. You two look like your mother. You could be in magazines when you grow up. Beautiful face, eyes, complexion, hair, frame, bone structure.

Perfect.

Gibberish to Claudette. Irrelevant now, to her and the men behind the leader. They shot a volley of..not bullets. Darts? She didn't have time to analyze as her twin threw herself over her. Ah, how smart. Her sister had apparently recalled that she seemed to have physical invulnerability. While Claudette would have fallen to the flying knock out darts, they simply bounced off her sister's deceptively supple form. Nicole knocked them over the couch and seemed to have another on-the-spot idea. Claudette thought it was good that her sister seemed to be adapting so quickly, thinking rapidly. There was no one else to worry about but themselves in this immediate situation. The only thought was to get out. Get out and get away. Claudette also thought they should eliminate these threats right now; they'd give chase she bet. However, her twin had other ideas.

Nicole's mind was racing. Who were these people? Soldiers - what did they want? The X-Men, Cerebro, Xavier? Them? Was the point to kill, to capture? It didn't matter right now; it wasn't like they could ask! Her body proved an effective shield against the tranq's, they could not harm her body. She used her momentum to topple the couch. It was useful as further guard from more tranquilizing ammo. But she wasn't stupid; they'd have more than that. It was now, she felt, that time served as the energy being's prisoners - Penance - would come most in handy. They'd been hunted before, on the run before, forced to do things to survive before. They weren't the doe-eyed kids they looked like, not entirely.

They would not go easily. Nicole kicked roughly at the couch, sacrificing it for a distraction and making a run for it. There were helicopters out there and the windows were already blown out. Going outside wasn't a good idea. So the girls put that agility and speed to use. They ran out another door. Or it started as a run before they figured flying was better, even in these enclosed quarters. Nicole stretched out her senses, trying to find another of Helix. If they could find one or more of the others, perhaps the odds would even up. She found it discouraging that it was far more easy to locate more soldiers.

Claudette flew with her sister, but with other thoughts. She could feel them, these many minds, human minds. Her sister was exercising her powers, getting more experience. Aside from her portal power, she hadn't done much with her own. Brushing her power against the minds of those giving chase, she thought now would be a good time to test out her own power set. Her eyes aglow with ivory as they flew along, Claudette attempted to impress upon them a number of random thoughts, pulled from their own forces. Crossing up the thoughts and directing them to other minds, mentally ingrained orders floating around different heads. She sought to ruin their concentration, their coordination, their unity.

We have to find the others, Nicole now thought. Get away, is what Claudette now thought.

To say there was a hail of bullets--or darts--would be mild in comparison. Moving targets elicited reactions from soldiers, especially those cautioned that the smallest hesitation could result in death by an enemy that didn't use bullets or blades (typically) to do the slaughtering. It was, however, the mental cloud being thrown up about the twins keeping those men from finding their mark. The Professor would find the redecorating quite upsetting, but then the mansion was already being turned upside down for the second time this month. What was a few bullet holes or needle punctures?

One or two had even tried darting a fellow man, though the twins' cloud moved on quickly enough were the confusion staggered a group only for a few moments. Others loitering on any walkways overlooking the lower floor might look the wrong way when seeking the noise of all the running--even that sound was brief when they turned to flight. The radio chatter was moved in waves, not that it was used extensively for the search pattern--radio use could give away one's position.

Some, however, tried to anticipate the girls. They took up positions ahead, trying to anticipate their movements based on what was happening to other groups. The plan was to stay out of sight, at a distance, and quickly emerge to incapacitate the mutants. Whatever the mutants were doing to the others they had a plan--whether it would work or not--to avoid the same fate and bring their targets down. If nothing else they wouldn't stop firing until their clip was empty or the mutants were out. Not the most elaborate plan. The backup involved using an energy blast that could just as easily harm the mutants as stun them--that man was station further back, alone. They had orders to incapacitate everyone, which is exactly what they would do.

[Left open for reaction, can add more to this post if preferred.]

This was ridiculous. They couldn't possibly be so isolated! That's what Nicole thought as she did her best to drag her sister while shielding her. She had noticed that, between the bunches of bullets and darts, she remained unaffected. Whatever did hit, sparse taps, did nothing. She'd swear they just bounced off - irritants. But the graze that adorned her sister's arm when they went to zip around a corner said that her sister was very susceptible.

There was no time to worry about how they were wrecking the mansion. They hadn't spent much time as fleshy being, as separate units needing to work in tandem, but it appeared that they were doing a marvelous job. Perhaps it was that twin connection? In any case, they were fluid enough together. Nicole worked on physical distractions, knocking over anything she could or picking it up and throwing it one-handed. The other hand stayed firmly clasped with her sister's. Claudette worked on mental distractions. Disorientation, random noises, mental thought redirection via some creative link and projecting - if it could cause confusion or make accuracy difficult without requiring too much concentration on her part [she did have to fly along too you know], Claudette did it.

Then their opponents got smart. They'd position themselves ahead rather than join in the chase. It was unpleasant, having them pop up like that and forcing Nicole to briefly halt her tactics to become the best human body shield possible. Another credit to them was their determination. But Nicole supposed that it wasn't hard to be determined when you had sheer numbers on your side...as well as age, build, back up, and - between the lot of them - an endless supply of ammo and a range of weaponry to try out.

The twins sped along, as best they could while inside the mansion, Nicole losing hope of finding anyone in here the further they got. On her end, Claudette was wondering just how long her sister planned to run before she gave up this crusade. She had the feeling that, as she had when they were stuck in Limbo, she would have to make the decisions here. Her sister's preoccupation with finding the others was going to get them killed - or captured rather, as seemed to be the point here. And so, suspending her mental assaults, Claudette focused on something else. A portal. She'd get them out of there, whether her twin was ready or not. Nicole would get over it later, just as she had before. Lucky her, the carpet's design did incorporate round figures. Walls too, but those were risky since they were getting quite torn up. All she needed was something big enough to fit through.

The next few moments happened fast, too fast and they were too young and just too new with the world of new, separate, flesh forms.

They made a turn and all that greeted them at the end was a freaking mirror. Nicole was prepared to just barrel through it. The soldiers' accuracy was improving, disorientation fading and between the ones in front and the ones chasing them, Claudette was struck. Nicole plucked the offending darts out, ready to take on her sister's weight. Claudette, however, had not stopped her plans. A portal opened, effortless thanks to the oval mirror. There wasn't enough time, Claudette predicted, feeling herself fading. She did not have her sister's physical gifts. The tranquilizers, their effects multiplied by multiple hits were working too quickly. She'd pass out and that portal would close. That didn't stop her though. One of them would make it. She had overpowered her sister by catching her off guard before. She'd do it again.

Claudette abruptly broke the hand hold, sedatives causing her to fade ever faster, and Nicole turned in confusion and surprise. The autistic twin gathered what was left of her conscious strengths and gave her sister a shove. Nicole's look of shock and horror was the last thing Claudette saw. She passed out, the portal closed over and cut off Nicole's forming scream. Darkness had fallen and the soldiers came soon after.


((TBC: Claudette: X-Front Yard: Harvesting the Crop))
((TBC: Nicole: TBA))