Charles will read your mind (ex_mindreade147) wrote in marveldystopia, @ 2015-09-16 00:12:00 |
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The chess game was interesting. In the last day, Charles found himself going to the public library where the chessboard Erik set up sat waiting. They communicated via the network or maybe in passing. Casualties of the game and stratagem sat on the side of the board, and both men only moving their own pieces. Cheating was never discussed, but then again, not a lot was discussed as far as the actual game went. They preferred to play chess on the board and also via conversations. It was interesting, entertaining, and intriguing in many ways. Charles might even say he could feel a rapport building between them. He looked at the board and in his mind began going through different possibilities. What method would he use? His opening had been somewhat passive, testing even. Erik showed an aggressiveness in his responses but there was meticulous thought behind it as well. He was no ordinary opponent and it only seemed to make Charles respect the man more. There was a great deal that Erik was and much he didn't reveal about himself to others. The game revealed quite a bit but yet it was still guarded in many ways. Yes, Charles had a growing respect for Erik indeed. Bringing a piece over, he took a bishop, but had a feeling that the rook would meet its fate in the next play. If not that, then it would only draw more interest to see what Erik would do. He pulled out his communicator and sent out a message to the other man, letting him know it was his turn. Charles stepped away from the chess board and made his way past the shelves a few steps and walk around. He intended to make his way back to the med station, as his shift would be starting not too long after his return there. But he wanted to try something first before he went back. Before there were many minds around him that would prevent him from getting a clearer picture of what these insects were. Animals were creatures of base thought and ran on instinct. They were not thinking and feeling creatures much of the time, not in the way that a human mind could comprehend these things. But perhaps he could discover something about them. It wouldn't take him long to find one, he determined, and it would only be for a few moments. To see what he could discover to maybe add some more insight rather than just biology from a preserved corpse. He picked up a half-fallen chair and then placed himself upon it. It would do for now and the quiet of the library would only aid him. Instinctively, he brought both hands to the sides of his head, pressing against each side gently and then closed his eyes. He didn't know why he did it, but it seemed to help him focus. And focus he did. Charles's mind opened to the world around him and many of the voices were distant. He did not need voices that thought in both feeling and also words, but something else. Something more primal. Something not human at all. And that's when he found it. Charles's mind latched onto something that was definitely animal. It didn't have a voice and didn't use words but it appeared to be functioning in unison. That was only the beginning though. He could see how the swarm functioned. They were interconnected. Each mind linked to another and they were of one purpose, one goal, and at its center was a powerful mind. But that wasn't the end. No, there was more to that. There was a figure. Something. Maybe it was someone instead. Before Charles could reach farther he felt the sting of the attack. It came swiftly and struck him hard. If it had been like one stabbing psychic blast, it might have been more bearable, but this was like hundreds of them. They all centered on his mind and much like the hundreds of voices crying in unison, they struck in the same way. The pain was beyond anything Charles could describe. No physical pain felt like this but he did feel it manifest physically as a cry tore out of his throat from the assault. It was too much to bear and it took only one strike. A thousand strikes striking him with perfect synchronicity. Charles's body stiffened at first but then loosened. He was fading. The world around him was fading. He was falling. Literally and figuratively. His hands dropped down and Charles's body slumped down out of the chair and onto the floor, stretching out almost as if he were looking for someone to help him. But he was gone. Not dead, but his mind psychically injured in a manner that would not take only an hour to recover. Fading. Falling. Everything was dark and he was slipping into the abyss. An abyss that he would need to crawl out of. But how long that would take, Charles would only know once he'd done it. The damage done was significant enough it would take him a while. Days even. But all he could feel for now was the nothing swallowing him whole. Erik made his way to the grand library, interested in finding out if Charles had gone for the bait in his last move. The two of them could sit and play for hours, but more often than not, Erik would grow weary of Charles’s optimism and constant faith in the other refugees there. It was better that they kept these matches like this, a move made in passing, once or twice a day. By Erik’s calculations - always - he was winning. So he arrived at the table where the chessboard was set up and was pleased to see that Charles had, indeed, gone for the bait. Of course he wouldn’t leave his bishop exposed if there wasn’t an ulterior motive. Charles should know better. Erik reached to move his intended piece, but then paused. Charles should know better. Which meant he did. Retreating his hand, Erik frowned at the board. “What are you planning, Charles?” He stood , studying the pieces, trying to deduce what Charles had in mind to fall for the bait. A distraction. Erik narrowed his eyebrows. Charles knew that Erik would celebrate his own successful lure and would immediately make his true move known once it was successful. He’d be waiting for it. Erik stroked his chin, silver bristle of beard showing through since the night before. Ultimately, Erik decided to go forward with his plans. He moved the knight from its station, now that it wasn’t blocked, and took out Charles’s castle that was getting too close to Erik’s King. Charles could have the satisfaction of seeing his real intent, and Erik decided to deal with the fallout that his action would cause. The ends always justified the means, and now Charles’s King was two moves away from Check. Grunting with satisfaction, Erik stepped away from the game board after giving it one more sharp surveying look, and then something caught his eye. A hand was peeking out from behind a nearby bookshelf. A hand that Erik immediately recognized. Erik felt his gut tighten and he took two long strides around the bookshelf to find Charles, crumpled and outstretched on the floor. “Charles…” Erik hissed tightly, pausing only a moment before he was kneeling beside the other man. He checked for a pulse, checked for breath, lowered his head to listen to his chest for his heartbeat. He was alive, but something was not right. “Charles,” Erik said more firmly, seizing him under his chin, holding his jaw, willing his eyes to open. Nothing happened. Going stony silent, Erik lifted Charles off the floor, carrying him with an arm around his back, another behind his legs, and he called upon his power. Magneto lifted off the floor of the library with Professor X in his arms and the accompanying sound, the constant wom wom wom pulsing of magnetism that was infamous in another time and another place, surrounded them both. Gathering Charles close, Erik’s shield engaged around him with a crackling sound of force and he went straight through the side of the library like a blade, leaving a perfectly circular hole behind. Speed was of the essence here, and Erik moved in a streak across the sky, straight to the hospital to locate those who had the medical knowledge to help Charles. |