Xavier sat across the chess board from a figure whose face he couldn't see. They played game after game of chess both winning and both losing. "It is truly frightening how like life chess is." the shadowy figure said calmly.
Xavier tried to place the voice with little success. It wasn't Eric. Nor was it any of Xavier's other more refined acquaintances. Though he had been shocked to the core when he learned that Logan could play chess. "It is rather like life, though with far less risk."
"Oh I don't know about that." The voice replied and Xavier was suddenly aware of the chess piece in his hand. He looked down at the little pawn and was stunned to see a miniature Scott. He was warm, breathing and looking terrified.
Xavier set him down quickly and as gently as he could manage. "Are you certain you want to place him there?" The voice asked and Xavier registered the board. He had inadvertently placed Scott in a Bishops path.
"No, I apologize, I was caught off guard momentarily." Xavier picked Scott up again very carefully and set him out of harms way.
"No trouble. Though you shouldn't be so reticent to use your marvelous strategies now that you have seen the pieces. It would make the game dreadfully dull."
"Is that all this is to you? A game?" Xavier glanced at his opponents pieces and saw average looking men and women dressed in combat fatigues. They seemed completely unconcerned with being pieces in a game.
"Of course not." The voice replied unruffled. "It's not just A game. Its The game Xavier. The game of life. Played with the ultimate stakes."
Xavier glanced down at his chess pieces. The X-men, other less well known people in his life, in the Spot of the Queen Donella, the woman he loved and in the spot of the King an empty wheelchair. "You've noticed. Yes, it was something of a bother. I hadn't intended to capture the King and yet still not have him."
Xavier raised an eyebrow and watched his opponent make a move. He took counter measures and tried not to notice how fragile these pieces were. "And exactly what is it you want?"
"I hadn't decided when that dreadful war began. It was completely ahead of schedule and rather unexpected. I mean I knew the US was going to collapse. That was all carefully planned for. And I knew the War was coming but it all happened too soon and I was forced to move rather faster than I wanted to." He moved a piece and Xavier had to make a difficult choice.
He pondered it for a while. "So what were you hoping for. Power, Money, the Extinction of Mutants?"
"Power yes, money I already had. Perhaps not their extinction. They can after all be so useful. Yes I do believe it was power I was after ultimately. I have some now but it isn't nearly enough yet. I'll get there though. In time."
Xavier winced as his only option became clear to win this game. He picked up the Queen and Donella looked up at him with her laughing blue eyes. He set her down on the board. "Check." He said serenely.
"Sacrificing Donella? Well that is rather practical if somewhat cold hearted." His opponent moved a Rook and the chess piece swallowed Donella up.
Xavier struggled to remain calm then moved his bishop. "Check mate." He said.
"Very good. I didn't see that coming."
"As I've won why don't you tell me who you are?" Xavier said quietly tiring of the games.
The figure leaned forward his face thrown into relief. Xavier studied the face before him. A refined face, slightly larger than normal Steel Grey eyes and a straight nose. He had a thin lipped mouth and a shock of gray hair topping it all off. There was something familiar about the structure of the face but Xavier couldn't place it. There was a spitting sound and Xavier looked down briefly to see the Rook spitting Donella out as the board reset itself. He looked back up at his opponent and recognized the similarities. His opponent smiled. "I see you've figured it out."
He snapped his fingers and Xavier felt roiling agony rip through him as the chessboard melted away leaving him in a dark space surrounded by pain and worst of all, by doubt.
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Donella jerked awake. Someone was touching her shoulder. She looked up at Rogue and tried to swallow her heart again. "Yeah Rogue?" She asked.
"Kitty found him." She replied simply.
Donella straightened up and looked down at Xavier still quiescent in the infirmary. She let go of his hand and smoothed the blanket where she'd fallen asleep on it. She followed Rogue to the massive Media Room. A room she'd designed specifically to monitor the worlds media. Kitty was sitting at her computer clicking away at something. Donella slipped up beside her. "What'd you find?" She asked.
Kitty pulled up a screen. There for all to see was Derek Gordon, her older brother giving a speech to the media concerning his belief that there was a dangerous group of mutants hiding out in British Columbia. "I will be taking a specialized team to scour the Province. We will eradicate this threat so our children may sleep in peace."
Donella stared at the screen as if she could influence what her brother was saying. A reported stood up. "What about the rumors that one of the Mutants is a member of your family?"
Derek shrugged easily. "There will always be that one member of the family that is an affront to the upstanding members of society. My sister is an abomination. An affront to the natural order of things. She'll be dealt with just like the rest."
Donella grimaced but kept watching. "How do you know where they are?"
"I have my sources, I'm not at liberty to discuss it right now but I will say that I've got my reasons to believe they're somewhere in British Columbia. It shouldn't be too hard to find them."
Donella shut off the interview and stared into space for a few minutes. "Call a Meeting Rogue. We need to come up with a defense."
Rogue ran to get the X-Men together while Donella pondered how Derek could know where they were.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Wow two updates in one day. And if I can get any writing done while my son is napping I might make it three. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter End Notes:
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