13989/LCR Part 1: The Fracture

LCR Part 1: The Fracture
Date of Scene:	28 November 2021
Location:	Main Foyer - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	A jumble of yeens have invaded Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, let in through a dimensional window created by a troubled student and one of them may not be entirely friendly.
Cast of Characters:	Kit Killovarras, Beast, Phoenix, Nightingale

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Kit Killovarras has posed:
The foyer is a normally quiet place and tonight? Tonight is not much different! A few students loitering here and there, studying at the table near the the stairs, but generally it's a normal night!

Regardless of how calm or how normal the night is, there is something in the air, an unsettling feeling that wouldn't take a telepath to feel, but for the moment everything seems perfectly fine beyond the faint but ever present nagging fear that seems to want to play with everyone, all is well.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy had been out jogging. He does this quite often; what he says is a jog only is when he's in eyesight of the estate. As soon as he hits the wilds, it tends to be more of an all-fours run, leap, branch-swing affair, with his clothing left behind at the foot of a tree. It's a secret that's not really all that much of a secret, but nobody usually disturbs him. Letting the Beast out, means that the rest of the time, he can be the man that he usually is. He went out just before sundown and now, with dusk having come and gone, he returns to the front of the school, trotting over the lawns and with a leap, landing on the gravel pathway that leads to the main road.

Like a deer in the headlights, or more... like a bear that smelled something on the breeze he looks up and off, nose wrinkled, ears shifting to catch the imagination of a sound. Animal instincts - he doesn't listen to them often, but occasionally they do give him a little head's up of weirdness on the horizon. Or maybe it's just a storm coming, which sometimes has the same effect. He turns to the foyer, perhaps in the hopes of a shower.

Phoenix has posed:
A something in the air might be a thing that a telepath normally feels. So it is likely that this feels like any other night to Jean Grey. She doesn't usually stay at the school overnight, but she'd worked late tonight. She's just now emerging from her office and walking in the direction that would take her to the kitchen.

For the moment, Jean seems to be oblivious to the ever present nagging fear. She disappears into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. Probably a sandwich and a cup of tea. They're easy and filling.

Nightingale has posed:
     Dr. McCoy isn't the only one who's been working out. Elevator doors swoosh open, and Shannon steps out in her black tank top and shorts, edged in yellow. Black sneakers protect her feet, and she keeps her hair tied up in a bun. Her skin glistens with a fine sheen of sweat, and she's got tape wrapped around her fists as if perhaps she might have gone a round or three with the punching bag. Her eyes, pale azure though they are, glint with an inborn fire, the young healer in training taking a deep breath as she steps out.

     Unlike Dr. McCoy, though, she has not yet availed herself of the shower.

     Oh, my.

Kit Killovarras has posed:
As everyone goes about their evening, that strange sense of impending doom would linger, slowly growing, right up until:

<<To the telepathic mind, there is a sudden shriek, like thousands of tiny metal pins on a chalk board and the near deafening sound of something breaking. Shattering glass or a stack of plates suddenly hitting the floor would describe the sound, but not the continuous noise that grates on for several seconds longer than it should.>>

The lights suddenly flicker once or twice, though it might be overlooked.. This place has generators, right? And besides, there is no real storm in the area, at least not one that should be hitting this hard yet, right?? But then they go out entirely, no generators to keep them going.

Stranger still, while some of the students are very aware of what's happening, a handful of them continue their night as if nothing is happening, unaffected by the sudden change, as if the strange things going on here simply hadn't happened.

Beast has posed:
The front door opens there and then, just as the madness of a moment happens. "What the..." Hank looks up at the flicker of the lights, then is instantly rather alert as they go out completely. He sniffs the air, looks around, finds Shannon, blinks there, then moves through into the foyer proper. "That shouldn't have happened. I filled the generators and tuned them up last..." but some people seem to not be noticing that they shouldn't be able to see. "Well. That's odd."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey goes on about making her food. When she's done, she quickly eats it before she emerges from the kitchen. A freshly made steaming mug of tea is in her right hand as she glances through the foyer. The headmaster walks toward her office, and is about halfway through the foyer when that sudden shriek hits her mind. She stops in mid stride. The cup of tea slips from her fingers to clutch at her head. The sound of the cup shattering on the floor goes unnoticed by her.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon had precious few friends that she'd allowed herself to grow close with during her time at the school. When one of them seemed in distress--assistant headmistress though she might be--she stops dead in her tracks. Her wings flare out behind her, and she turns about slowly, to pin down the source of the crashing crockery. "Crap. Everyone okay? Miss Grey?"

Kit Killovarras has posed:
There is an ever present odor in the air for those who are trapped in the darkness, like a decades worth of dust had somehow settled in within the beat of a heart. Something is beyond wrong, something that somehow afflicts some of the students here but not others, something distinctly foreign.

When the lights go out and the scent and senses of the mansion changes, McCoy would see it somewhere in the darkness, a streak of light moving from one side of the foyer to the other, from one hall to the next. They're an aardwolf, similar in build to Kit, though this one is different. It's eyes trail a pale green rather than violet and it's fur is much thicker, much more distorted in places, almost like it's body is covered in scar tissue in some places. It's fur is different too, black in place of tan and it's stripes are a pale ashen.

When she rushes to check on Jean, Shannon would see them, golden and glowing with a pale light somewhere at the end of the hall, watching her approach of the headmistress. They're barely slits, but they're there all the same.

If she turns to see the approaching Shannon is when Jean would see them, brilliant red and staring from somewhere behind the approaching angel, hovering in the darkness for a moment before they float away, leaving a momentary trail of light as they turn to depart.

Something is moving in the darkness, something entirely silent and for as familiar as they might seem, each one is distinctly different than the next.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy's attention is caught by something. The sight of the trail of light and he plasters himself to the wall, pupils swimming outward until they almost fill the entire of the iris. He tracks the shape of the intruder follows it with his ears lifting up and out just a little. He does not have the kind of ears that allow a great deal of mobility, but the beast inside of him still tries from time to time. With surprisingly quiet steps for such a large fellow, he skirts along the wall, until he can peek around the kitchen door at the source of the tea, seeing Shannon clear as day and Jean also, he thinks loud enough, <<Jean. Radio frequency you. We've got intruders and they look rather a lot like our fuzzy mage friend.>> And he slips further on past, until the shape of him looms large enough for Shannon to see him. An item is waggled black on black and a whisper is shared. "Just do me a favour and let me turn my back before you switch it on."

What is it? A little portable headlight. Always good to have one if you're planning on going jogging after dark, even if you DO have excellent night vision. Keys for instance, show up better under a light than by cateye.

Phoenix has posed:
Once the sound in her brain stops, Jean Grey straightens up, lowering her hand to her side. "I'm alright, Shannon. Thank you. Is everyone else fine?" She turns now to look to Shannon. Jean sees the brilliant red whatever it is. She narrows her eyes and lifts both hands, calling on fire to light up the area. She doesn't look to Henry as she hears his thoughts to her.

She replies the same way, to Hank and Shannon. <<I see red eyes, about the same height as our fuzzy mage friend. Just before the lights went out, there was a shriek and the sound of something breaking. Did you hear it?>>

Nightingale has posed:
     While helping Jean clear up her mess, she's tapped on the shoulder by Dr. McCoy and given the headlamp. Oddly enough, there's a pause where she smiles wide, the young woman radiating gratitude and no small amount of pride that might be detected by anyone included in the telepathic conference. She slips the device on over her head, covering the lights with her hands and wings to give both Jean and Dr. McCoy ample warning. <<Heads up. Company down the end of the hall. Golden eyes, suspiciously... well, oddly familiar and yet not, somehow. Please cover your eyes?>>

     A few heartbeats later, she turns the headlamp on, slowly moving her hands and wings away, and allowing everyone in her vicinity time to adjust to the sudden flood of light. <<Yeah, it was a weird kind of noise. Creepy as heck. I thought we were past Halloween.>>

Kit Killovarras has posed:
The golden eyes suddenly widen, then snap shut as the light comes on! It's an Aardwolf and their golden eyes had turned a pale red as the light hits them for a split second before they snap shut and the aardwolf winds up on the ground, letting out a sudden cry of pain and clutching his face! It looks like Kit, same body proportions, same build, same exact everything except for his eyes and his fur.. In the light, his eyes were pale red, not red and gold. His fur is milky white with golden stripes. Though, there's no denying the voice that comes out when it snaps, "What the hell, Shannon?!"

The red-eyed one that had been turning away sort of shrinks away from the light a little and chuckles quietly, "Figured you were going to light the place up.. Thanks for letting me turn around." The voice is similar, but obviously feminine. She's got an identical build to Kit, same fur coloration, same height, same everything. When she turns around, her once red eyes turn milky white in the light, almost like someone who'd been blinded, though she's looking directly at Jean and smiling.

The green-eyed one is seemingly nowhere to be seen, though this IS the hallway it was headed down.

Both of the yeens look like they're about to say more, but then they notice each other and both of them suddenly have this moment of utter confusion.

<<Both minds are nearly identical and both of them are trying to process what they're seeing when they see each other. They're the same person, right down to their though patterns, but both are just ever so slightly out of sync with each other.>>

Beast has posed:
<<And that's why I thought a brighter light might be helpful...>> Hank thinks at Shannon and Jean, although with a modicum of surprise at the elation. <<We appear to have...>> squinting to protect his own sensitive eyes, Beast looks between the two yeens, then at Jean again. <<Sound like shattering glass?>> back at the hyenas <<...Oh dear. I have a bad feeling there's been a magical kerfuffle. Where was Kit last?>>

That last seems to be directed at Shannon, assuming perhaps rightly so that she'd know best where her friend had been, as Hank had been out for a bloody long jog.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey looks from one of the Yeens to the other one, and then closes her eyes. "So many," she says aloud. Her green eyes open and look between Shannon and Hank for a moment. <<It's Kit. Somehow, they're all Kit.>> She looks back and forth between the two that can be seen as well. But her mind is feeling the others, hearing the others. "Kit, what happened?" This she says aloud. "Was there an accident? Or did something else happen?" While she talks, Jean holds the fire steady, keeping the illumination up until such a time as the electrical lights come back on.

Nightingale has posed:
     Quickly, as a courtesy to all the Kit's present, Shannon furls her wings around in front of herself to partially shield the light, and ease the suffering. "Sorry about that," she mutters, letting out a sigh. She rubs her temples slowly, shaking her head. The motion makes shadows dance about briefly in the hallway, brought to life by the headlamp adorning her pale gold tresses.

     <<Last I saw Kit was before I was heading downstairs to the gym for a bit. He wasn't feeling all that great and wanted to turn in early.>>

Kit Killovarras has posed:
It's the female yeen that speaks first, since the white-furred one is regaining his ability to see. "I just got up and was coming down to get a snack and the lights went out.." Her ears fold back a little, her eyes flicking betwelln the others and the white-furred male who is finally pulling himself off the ground.

"Uugh, well my headache -was- gone.." the white one mutters, then rubs his paws over his forehead, leaving trails of golden light for a moment before his pained look fades away. "What exactly is going on here?" he asks, letting his eyes adjust to the light before walking over towards Shannon and the others. "And who is she?" he adds, looking to the other yeen.

Finally, a side door opens up and a black face emerges, a timid little voice asking a simple, "What's going on?" sounding like it's on the verge of crying. Black fur, ashen stripes and one silver eye is the guise this one takes, his fur obviously marred by a serious number of scars and one long, thick one that covers the slightly sunken skin of an eyeless socket on the right side of his head.

Beast has posed:
"I believe this is what they call multiplicity. John Cusack made a film about this, which came over to mixed reviews..." Beast murmurs with a sigh. "...Okay, I don't think this is quite the situation that I thought it was. Give me a moment to get to the garage, I'm going to manually restart the generators and throw all the breakers. We're in a bizarre distortion, I think." Out loud, he nods to Jean and SHannon. <<I don't think I need to say to be careful and keep a tab on me. We're still missing the green eyes and I doubt every one of Kit is always nice. I might encounter that one.>>

Then he's off down the end of the hall, rubbing at his face as he goes into the darkness, to go to the breaker room, which is off of the Garage. That's also where the /regular/ generators are. The base beneath has its own completely seperate one.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey shakes her head a little bit. Like she's a touch dizzy. "He's you. And you're him. You're all... Kit. But.." Jean pauses and shakes her head again. "Whether you're all the Kit from this reality, or from somewhere else, I'm.. unsure."

She glances to Henry and nods. "Sounds good. I'll keep a mental eye on you, and on those around us. I feel.. eight different minds." Jean speaks in her mind to Henry now. <<Be careful, Hank. One of the minds I can hear is not.. sane. That one will not hesitate to kill if it feels threatened.>>

Kit Killovarras has posed:
The one-eyed one watches Hank start off, stumbling as he tries to talk, but he doesn't manage to get out his all-too-quiet, "my.. my eyes are.. Um.. Green.." until far too late. Something catches his attention though and his ears pin back, his one good eye suddenly staring strait at Jean as he chokes out, "k..Kill!??!" and then suddenly disappears back into the room in a practically blind panic.. Could he hear her thoughts?

The explanation given gets the female yeen to sigh and looks to the white-furred male, tilting her head as she studies him, then asks, "Did the old man tell you, too?"
"Old man..?"
"Yeah, grand-dad.. Crazy old coot with the garden? Emphasis on old?"

The white furred aardwolf just sort of stops, ears drooping for a moment before he shakes his head. "He died.. When I was six."
    he female gives a sudden sigh and rubs the bridge of her muzzle, red electricity scattering through her fur. "Great.." she mutters, then looks at Jean and asks, "So, there's eight of us in total?"

Beast has posed:
<<Jean, if you can keep a mental eyeball on the crazy and let me know if it gets anywhere near me, that would be appreciated. I'm not too worried about one young mutant, but you never know. After I've depilliated myself being too clever before, I've got to remember not to underestimate my own ability to get up to my eyeballs in it.>> Hank's mind laughs softly.

Shortly after this, there'll at least be a test run in turning the lights back on. Magical surge, give it some time, re-do from start. It's a plan, one that involves Hank priming the generators and throwing switch breakers. And occasionally changing ones quickly, if they seem to have been fried.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey looks to the one-eyed one, and then projects to Henry again. <<Hank, the one eyed one has green eyes. And his mind isn't the one I feel that would kill.>> She glances to the female Kit and nods. "Unless there are more out of my range, there are eight of you," she says, comfirming the question.

<<I will, Hank. If that mind gets near you, I'll give you a shout.>> She probably won't /actually/ shout, of course. Jean's eyes, and mind, go back to the one-eyed Yeen that had fled. And, perhaps sensing something, she turns to go to the room. She knocks softly on the door and speaks to the one within. "Can I come in?" She doesn't just barge inside.

Kit Killovarras has posed:
There's a moment of silence where the white furred yeen and the female yeen both watch the Jean, then the door opens and that slender black muzzle pokes back out slowly, pale green eye shimmering for a moment before the light touches it and turns it silver. "Is.. Is it.. Safe?" it asks, still sounding nearly on the verge of tears.

The breaker would be a fair fix, the main circuit blew, so it would be a simple enough fix. The generators would have been a different story though. They work, but they look like they haven't been maintained for a while.. That is, right up until the lights come on with a flicker and the broken-down old machines are back to looking like new!

It's about this time that a groggy looking Aardwolf would poke his head into the room with Hank, still looking a little tired as he asks, "Any idea why the power went out?" with a tilt of his head. His fur is the same as ever, same build and everything and what's more important: In the light, his eyes are a mismatched pair. One red and one gold.

Beast has posed:
"Oh, hey, I found Kit," is said and also thought loudly. "So, we're down to four unaccounted for." Hank says, spanner in hand as he looks over at the groggy Aardwolf. "Where did you wake up? Because I'm guessing you passed out from the mundo headache you had earlier, right? You should go find Jean." He nods back to the foyer area of the school, doing a couple of last checks of the generators, with an eye cast about with dubious suspicion. "Leave my machinery alone, y'hear?" brandishing the spanner at the ethers.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey stands next to the door, patient until the door opens and the one-eyed pup becomes visible. "It's as safe as it ever is. The one I mentioned is not inside. If you stay near me, you'll know if that one comes near." Perhaps reassuring, perhaps not, but the entire truth.

She tilts her head a little bit as she hears Hank's thought. <<Oh good. Is he alright?>>

Kit Killovarras has posed:
"Um, in my room?" Kit says to the question of where he woke up, now looking royally confused. "And it wasn't that bad of a headache.. Just felt like my sinuses acting up is all." Go find Jean? those words just get a little bit of a shrug and a pause when Hank decided to shake a spanner at the ether, giving a little chuckle before he starts towards the foyer.

Back in the hallway, the one-eyed yeen watches Jean for a moment, then looks to the other two, studying them both before he... vanishes? He doesn't teleport, it's more like the light flows around him like water as he slips out from behind the door, looking both directions down the hallway before sort of just.. coming to stand by Jean, crouched down with both paws on the floor near his hands. He's acting more like an animal than the normal one does.

Eventually, Kit stumbles on the ... four? Three yeens and a Jean and just stops dead in his tracks, staring at the sight before rubbing his eyes and murmuring, "Woah.." as he just sort of stares.

Beast has posed:
<<Yep. About as clueful as the others were. But he hasn't exploded or turned into cheese, so I think we're peachy keen for the time being.>> Hank finishes off the checking of things, making absolutely sure everything is not about to explode, because you NEVER know... then makes his way back to the foyer, only there to lean against the wall, arms loosely folded. "We've got a pickle and no mistake Jeanie."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey takes in stride the vanishing act. She can still feel his mind there, right where it had been moments prior. She nods once and then turns to the others. "Hello, Kit," she says as this dimension's Kit arrives on the scene. "How do you feel?" <<Other than sorting out whatever this is and fixing what happened, I think you're right. Peachy keen.>> As Hank returns to the foyer, Jean nods to his words.

"So." Her green eyes turn to each of the four yeens in turn, ending with this dimension's Kit. "What do you think happened here? You're all the same person. None of you feels like split personalities. Those usually have very distinct and different personalities. The eight of you," she says. And yes, she said eight. "Are very similar with minor distinctions."

Kit Killovarras has posed:
The yeens all look between themselves, all looking confused save for one. The female aardwolf just folds her arms, looking at the other's and she looks rather upset, "Don't tell me.. He didn't teach /any/ of you about it, did he?" she practically growls. Then she pulls away from the group, heading strait for Kit - this dimensions Kit - as she explains, "You fractured the veil, kid."

Kit just looks confused for a moment, then his ears pin back a little as he growls, "Kid..? If you're me, then we're the same age!"
"Yeah, you're just the dumb one. What happened, hmm? Did someone hurt your damn feelings and you couldn't take it?"

A new difference between the two starts creeping up. The female version of Kit isn't the kind or gentle creature that the people here would know. If nothing else, she's a raging bitch. She does shake her head after a moment and turns back to Jean, explaining, "One of us opened a rift between dimensions, which means you have a major problem."

Then she holds up a paw, gesturing over his shoulder to this dimensions Kit and frowns, "If he's here, we shouldn't be. Which means, I'm guessing he's either not really here, or we're all in someone else's dimension."

Beast has posed:
"Not our first rodeo with this kind of thing," Beast offers, in a cheerful tone. Whether the reality meets his chipper attitude is neither here nor there, but he /sounds/ convincing. Even to the nuanced ear of those with greater hearing, he really does feel confident that alternate reality, parallel contiginous reality foo can be sorted out. This would in fact, be because he's lived it himself. He had his own doppelganger. "Miss Kit?" he holds up his hand to the only female in the bunch. "If you could perhaps meet with myself and/or Jean tomorrow after you've all had a good night's sleep, bright and early first thing and all that... we'd appreciate a low-down on what -you- know. But for now," he looks at all the Yeens. "We've a bunch of spare rooms on the male dorm. Chop chop, all of you get your tails behind you and shuffle off. We've got to find the rest of you, before dawn."