The satellite was on the rim of a canyon. by the light of the setting sun, Jean found the next psi-blocking device at the construction's base. On disabling it, Jean felt her psychic connection shift like the needle of a compass; down. She looked out across the valley, then to the section immediately below, but no, that wasn't quite it. . .Bringing her focus back to her immediate ground, Jean found something else at the satellite's base; something you had to know -or have a sense- was there to find.
The trapdoor lead her into a metallic tunnel; into swallowing darkness.
She'd made an attempt to keep the hatch open though it wasn't designed to open far enough, and on its close, Jean discovered this was exclusively an entry point. Even employing her telekinesis, Jean couldn't unlock it.
If this was a trap it hardly mattered -he was in here somewhere. Jean focused ahead; the darkness holding the same insignificance as she felt her way telekinetically, granting herself a kind of neuro-physical "sight", like a blueprint; outlines of walls, where they turned-off to rooms, the shape of objects therein etc.
While Jean navigated by way of telekinesis, she also reached out telepathically. . . .Feeling lingerings of three, or was it four? mental signatures besides Scott's. His was the only one still present. . . .She checked out every room. One appeared to be a monitoring / computer room, though with the absence of all power it provided nothing to her. She went down several more hallways before -her breath caught- finally another room; an automated door left open. . .
. . .inside, the outline of a body; collapsed, yet suspended by chains.
The mental pattern confirms this is Scott--she wouldn't have recognized him by physicality; the form of his body off -thinner, with something unmistakably missing from over his eyes.
She perceived the shape of his visor nearby on the floor.
Bending down, Jean carefully slipped it back on. .Cyclops stirred as though somewhat roused; more noticeably drawing breath, though it wavered.
Jean removed one of her gloves for skin-to-skin contact as she supported his head. The feel of his skin and hair was altered, and he was cold. Opening her jacket, Jean aimed to share her own body heat by holding him close.
". .Jean. . ?"
It was a relief to hear him speak. "I'm right here with you."
". .I tried to escape. . tried to get to you. ."
"You did. I was able to find you through our connection."
Shifting some attention back to his restraints, Jean noticed with alarm miniature devices like Tesla coils in the cavities of the wall where his chains connected.
Jean concentrated her telekinesis on the shackles, seconds later unlocking and sliding them away. She then eased Cyclops into a position that allowed for stress to be taken off his muscles, careful to go gradually; her telekinetic touch turning to massage on certain muscles to ensure they wouldn't cramp as he stretched out. By the same means, Jean brought over what she identified to be Cyclops' discarded jacket, setting it open beneath him for more of a barrier between his upper body and the unforgiving metal floor.
Setting a hand underneath his head, Jean then -on conclusion of massage- took his wrist in her other hand, checking / monitoring his pulse rate. "We'll get out of here soon."
If her face could be seen in the darkness, however, resolve would be mixed with uncertainty.
Meanwhile
A book lay forgotten on Charles Xavier's lap as he, positioned by a window in his library, stared out as though the expanse of the night could grant some solace or answer to the unease he felt over everything. . .and indeed, as he did, a sudden cognizance fell over him; something having returned to his greater perception.
He went down to Cerebro at once.
Finally her mind was no longer obscured from him.
'Jean! It's good to be able to reach you.' He found Scott's mind with hers, though the signal wasn't as it should be. 'What has happened?'
'Someone brought the jet down and had kidnapped Scott. I just found him.
The condition he's in. . .'
'Are there medical facilities near you?'
'We can't trust they'd be accommodating to us. Besides, we'll be stuck in a valley once we get out of this facility.'
'Concentrate on your location, everything you've seen of it.'
Jean focuses on what she remembers of their surrounding terrain.
This input allows Xavier to hone in.
'There will be a clearing. Assuming your exit isn't far off-'
he describes the distance it would be from them.
'I can have someone collect you there.'
The message has been communicated to both Jean and Cyclops.
'We'll make our way when we can.'
Xavier understands. 'In any case we'll find you; take care of him.'
Jean returns her full attention to Cyclops. "I may be feeling residual effects from the psi-blockers, telepathic perception feels strange, here. . .Though I don't think there's anyone we'll encounter."
"There isn't. . .somehow they knew you were coming. ." Despite the weight of weakness and fatigue, Cyclops, under Jean's watchful, telekinetic eye, makes the effort to begin getting up; grabbing his jacket as he does so. "They accelerated their experiment. . . .left after depleting my optic blasts. ."
So that was why his visor-- and accelerated the experiment? The culpability crosses Jean's mind: was there somewhere she could've been more careful? Arrived here without detection and saved Scott the worst of his torment. . ?
No time for that now.
"Do you think you can walk?"
". .with help to start. ."
They get up together -"easy. ." though as he leans on her, Jean utters a sound of pain. "-hold on-"
"-Are you okay?"
"My arm was injured in the crash," she's shifted position so he's on her uninjured side. "It isn't too bad now, but still sensitive."
Cyclops finds an uneasy balance. ". .How long's it been since the crash?"
"About 36 hours."
So that's the time he's lost. He starts moving forward with her.
Since only Jean can technically see in this darkness, she explains as she guides him: "Careful at the door, here. The corridors are wide enough we'll be able to walk easily. . . hopefully it won't be too far. I can feel some ways ahead but right now I don't know."
Cyclops' concentration seems to be on keeping one foot in front of the other, grunts of discomfort accompanying every few steps.
"We can break if it is. . ." Jean adds, cognizant -and concerned- of how deliberately he's walking. "Once we are outside I can make a fire; we can get some rest before we head to the rendezvous point."
Cut back-to X Mansion - Cerebro
Decidedly, Xavier removes the device from his head, not requiring it for the next message he has to send: 'Ororo. I require your assistance. It's a matter of some urgency.'
Cut-to Manhatten - top of St. Patrick's Cathedral
In response to overheard police radio reports regarding more mutants they have the mind to apprehend, the crimson clad Master of Magnetism has found another stage to show his superiority.
Through no more effort than a child playing with matchbox cars, the officers soon find theirs operating not of their own command.
Alone this time, Magneto remarks to himself from atop his perch: "They've been wanting driverless cars."
Suddenly nimbus clouds form overhead, and as if from them, Storm appears -alighting on the cathedral's other spire.
Magneto had shifted his eyes towards the telling weather change, and presently clutches all the cars' breaks to grant him the pause to address the X-Man coming down to him. He takes in the lack of other X-Men present. "You appear short-staffed tonight."
Storm faces him squarely. "As do you. Though what one sees is seldom all there is." Her eyes flash. "Cease these actions, Magneto."
"Do you know who they're in pursuit of?" Magneto dips his head slightly in reference to the police down below.
"We X-Men will see if the mutants they are after are in fact deserving of apprehension, and from there take the correct course of action."
Unperturbed, Magneto quips, "well I will know where to find them whether they're imprisoned or to be rehabilitated."
At this, he let's go of the cars --which causes those with determined, lead-foot drivers to careen forward at the sudden absence of force acting against them; at least one minor collision heard in the following seconds.
Magneto then turns his hand over towards Storm, as if to say 'do what you came here for', while his self-assured expression says 'just try to'.
Storm: "For now what divides us must be set aside. I am here with a message from Charles."
Magneto's brows rise with curiosity. . .
. . .Meanwhile
From a passage in the base of the canyon wall, Cyclops and Jean Grey come out on an area of sparsely treed earth with a small lake, on the edge of the forest proper.
Coming off of the darkness of the facility, the glow of the moon is at once harsh and welcome.
Jean eyes the lake, thinking of what it can provide them, while Cyclops seems focused on what hangs above the water: a mist.
Through his visor it looks red. Still feeling the absence of his optic blasts, Cyclops is compelled to remove it for a clear look --though as the lens slips away from his visual field, he still sees red.
Jean can only gasp before it happens--
--and Cyclops is knocked into a stagger -affected in his
weakened state by sudden optic release --his stagger
bringing them both down; visor falling from his fingers.
Even as his body is jolted by the fall, Cyclops keeps his eyes fiercely shut, shakily shifting one hand from the job of supporting his weight to finding his vital piece of eyewear.
In a moment, he feels it reset over his eyes by Jean's telekinesis. "Are you okay?"
But Cyclops is decidedly not okay -everything from the last few moments serving to trigger the man who now looks back up, retraining his gaze on the mist. . . Shot Composition: ECU on Cyclops, seeing the reflection of the mist in his visor, and as we ease-in to it, so too do we go into a flashback--
X-Men Envisionings Storyline # 3 - Relations 💉🩸
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Continuing Soon
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