Xavier's School for the Gifted (Caine)

[Ayen Matthews]

Ayen and Caine arrived to the outskirts of the city where a large mansion with a sign "Xavier's School for the Gifted" was outside the gate of the building. He flew over the gate and landed to the entrance of the school and let Caine go.

"This is the place."

Ayen knocked on the door and a few minutes later the door came open showing a girl in a bright yellow coat and pink shades with short black hair.

"Ayen? Is that you?" the girl asked.

"Hi, Jubilee.""

Jubilee gave Ayen a hug and then allow the two to come inside. "It's so great to see you again. We saw you on the news and was getting worried about you. Who's this?"

"His name is Caine. We're here to see the Professor."

"He's in his office upstairs."

"Thank you. You ready?" he asked Caine.

[Caine]

The minute they landed, Caine had to use every ounce of willpower to keep from hurling. Flying and alcohol definitely did NOT mix well, at least when flying's your superpower. So this was it. The home of the mysterious Professor Xavier... at least mysterious to Caine... or Daniel... GAH, that was so confusing!! All those years calling himself one thing, then finding out his actual name, and it had to come when he had gotten drunk! "Gimme a sec.... the whiskey's not sitting well right now...Hrkk.. False alarm, I'm good... Let's go." With that he merely followed them inside, now feeling moderately better, he just had to take it slow and survive the air sickness.

"So that really was you on the news, you were at that rumble at the plaza. For a second I thought Mr. Nobody back at the Razor's Edge got the wrong guy, but..."

[Ayen Matthews]

"Even though I saved lives it will likely just add more ammunition to the stupid "Super Regisertration Act" that bitch Carari wants to pass. She and her parents weren't even born in this country so she shouldn't be able to run for President. Simple as that."

Ayen led Caine upstairs and while they were ascending the stairs a familiar woman in her forties with long red hair dressed in black came from her room and smiled as she saw Ayen.

"Hi, Ayen."

Ayen would've blushed, but he managed to avoid it.

"Hi, Jean. It's been a long time. This is Caine. We met at the Razor's Edge. He came to see the Professor."

"It's nice to meet you."

[Caine]

"You're preaching to the choir, dude. She's head of a big corporation, they're always up to some shady crap. And I know what it's like to be made into bad PR. You know that business that went down at the bank? I tried to be the hero and stop a classic bank robbery, and ended up getting a couple hundred pounds of concrete dropped on me. I probably ended up adding more fuel to the fire than you did...." Though it wasn't his fault, he couldn't help but feel responsible. He doubted that the trap was set specifically for him, maybe Vilain set it for some other super but it still served its purpose. People were just getting more and more afraid of people like him.

Thankfully he was broken from his melancholy as he was introduced to another old friend of Ayen's. "Same. I didn't think Ayen was so popular... or that he actually went to this school. Guess I'm not as good at sniffing out my fellow freaks as I thought."  So, should I go on ahead while you catch up with your girlfriend?

[Ayen Matthews]

Girlfriend? What? No. She's not my girlfriend.

Ayen wished, though. But Jean was Scott's girlfriend, and he wasn't the first one to want someone who belonged to somebody else. With the whole history between them and Logan, but that was a story for another time.

"We'll catch up later, Jean, I got to introduce my friend here to the Professor."

Jean nodded and went on her way as Ayen continued to ascend the staircase and came to an office with plenty of books and a desk in the center of the room. A few seconds later an elderly bald man in a wheelchair came out from the back and looked at the duo now in front of him.

"Ayen, welcome back. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Thanks. This is Caine. He was hoping to discuss a few things with you."

Xavier looked over to Caine and gave him a friendly greeting. "Any friend of Ayen is a friend of mine. What is it you wish to discuss?"

[Caine]

"I wont take up too much of your time, Professor, I'm sure you're a busy man. Ayen says you are a very well informed individual, and that's why I've come to ask for your help. I'm looking for information on a man named Vilain. I believe he is responsible for the bomb that obliterated the bank just the other day, but that's not necessarily the only reason I'm looking for him..." Normally he'd be a bit more aloof about his motivations, a tendency he kept over from his time as an enforcer, but Xavier seemed a trustworthy sort, and keeping information from him probably wasn't a good idea.

"...Seven years ago, I woke up in some run-down apartment building in the lousy part of Brooklyn. I had no name, no memory, nothing but the clothes on my back, and unique abilities that made a lot of people afraid of me. I was taken in by a... mob boss, for lack of a better word, and when he found out about my powers, he made me his enforcer. After a few years, I gave him my letter of resignation and took to wandering, trying to use my powers to help people instead of hurt them, and hopefully find out who I really am. I came up short in the search until my first week here in Kansas City, when another super was trying to rob the bank. I stepped in, right into a trap set by Vilain. I don't know if it was for me or if it was for someone else, either way I probably ended up doing more harm than good. After I regained consciousness I made my way to the Razor's Edge, where I met Ayen, and... encountered Vilain again. He gave me a glimpse into his mind and.... something in my own mind just clicked and I had regained a memory. Vilain knows who I am, Professor. I need to find him. I need to stop him. And I would greatly appreciate your help in this matter."

[Ayen Matthews]

Xavier remained quiet as he listened to Caine, and Ayen helped himself to a seat as the two conversed.

"Sounds like this Villain is a threat to all of us. Ever since mutants have been outed the world look on us and other Supers with fear. I think the time has come to bring in the X-Men."

"Are you sure, Professor?"

"We have no choice, and I was hoping, Ayen, that you would lead this new team."

"Me? But I--"

"You are more qualified than you know. I have faith that you will lead the X-Men well. Now, let's see if we can't find this Villain. Follow me."

Xavier wheeled himself out of the office and headed to the elevator. Ayen knew where he was going next. To the sub-basement of the mansion where the machine Cerebro was located. Where Xavier could connect to every mind in the world. But was Villain human or mutant? They'll know soon enough.

[Jean Vilain]

Unknown Location…

The crypt had more bodies than usual today. The men and women on the ground were groaning from the madness of entering Vilain's hidden shrine. The unknown language on the walls were only decipherable from Jean himself. At the center was a statue of his master. Those that looked upon his majesty were driven insane. The face of the carved being was covered in darkness. As walked past the bodies, he kneeled.

"I have returned as requested my master…"

Unknown to Vilain, some uninvited spectators were about to peak in on the horror to come.

[Caine]

The X-Men? What the hell is an X-Man? Ah, forget it. He'd have that answer soon enough, they had more important matters, finding Vilain. During the walk to Cerebro, Caine was completely blown away by the sub-basement, and the quick looks into the rooms along the hallway. Once this business was over, he would have so many questions. And once he finally caught sight of Cerebro, he was, for once, utterly speechless. Good thing too, he didn't want to test out whether or not Vilain would be able to hear them. 

And there he was, the jackass that nearly killed Caine. Was he at a shrine? Funny, Daniel never pictured him for the religious type. Then he saw the bodies... what the hell kind of church was that supposed to be? And the statue... was it supposed to be a saint of whatever religion this was?

[Ayen Matthews]

Xavier sat in front of the door to Cerebro and received an eye scan before coming into the room with Ayen and Caine. He put on his helmet and began to connect to the minds of every human in the world that appeared in white figures.

"These are all the humans."

Then the figure lights turned red.

"And these are all the mutants. We're not as alone as we think."

"This never gets old."

Xavier then pinpointed Vilain and wondered just where he was and what he was doing.

[Jean Vilain]

The color of Vilain on cerebro kept shifting in colors. It would be hard to pinpoint what he was, but he was definitely not human or mutant. Silence echoed into the room. The only thing that could be heard was the insane individuals, but Vilain could hear. He could hear his master's wishes and commands. To those in the room it would look like he was just listening to nothingness. There was more to the silence however. Dark psychic waves filled with the blackest of energy moved throughout the area.

"Yes I see. So someone is listening to us."

*Silence*

"No my lord. I don't think there is any point in hiding what's in store for them."

The evil that dwelled within the shrine reached out to the professor. It wanted to use him to show the horror of those watching Vilain. Instantly their minds were transported to another realm. A world on fire, consumed by the flames of eternal war. Giant armor plated soldiers marched through out an unknown world killing an unknown species. The pain of the aliens screams echoed in their heads. They were transported again through the cosmos to another planet literally being blown to pieces from an astral bombardment. A billion voices crying out in horror at the end of their existence. Transported again, their minds laid witness to a god like being crushing the sun with its power into a black hole and flinging it into a planet to swallow and whatever was in its wake.

Again they were transported to the sight of a galaxy. Several large monstrous beings hovered above each of the individuals. Looking too long and the cosmic beings could cause even a normal man to go insane. What could only be described as gods, combined their power to erase the galaxy from existence. Countless screams of horror came to them. Transported again and again. They witnessed countless tragedies of lives coming to an end until they finally reached a final destination. A dark being surrounded in an evil aura, a hungry aura, an all consuming aura revealed itself to a universe and removed it from all of reality. More universes were shown, but these had one major difference then the one they just witnessed being destroyed. The vision showed them a legion of an infinite military, an infinite armada, an infinite empire… The Infinite Empire. It was clear what the cosmic entity wanted. It wanted to be let in. It need to be let in.

The group that had been watching Vilain, returned to the room that they were in. The power to cerebro shorting out as the vision ended. Perhaps they never even left. What had felt like forever only transpired for a few seconds in reality. It was clear now what Vilain's role was. He wanted to open the doors for whatever lay on the other side. Something was stopping him however. The question was what was it and how would they stop it?

[Caine]

What he saw should've terrified him, he should've been paralyzed with fear but... he was calm. A bit perturbed by the experience, but otherwise unaffected. Shouldn't Caine had been scared? He felt like he should be, but...

it has revealed itself....

He heard these words as the vision ran its course...

the wayward child....

Could Ayen and the Professor hear them too...

you will burn with them....

It wasn't the vision that scared him. It was the fact that they could 'see' him, that whatever they were, they could sense him. And they knew him. Instead of answers he only got more questions. "...what the hell did we just see? What were those things?! Did you hear what they were saying?"
It didn't show on the outside, but Caine was freaked out in his own way. Whatever that was, he couldn't let it come to pass. It was all the more reason that "....we need to stop Vilain. No matter what."

[Ayen Matthews]

Ayen was shaken out of his horror when he heard the Professor begin to scream in agony as Cerebro began to circuit out. Ayen rushed over to the Professor's side and ripped the helmet off his head before it could do any damage to the Professor. Whatever they saw it was something terrible, and something that could even overpower the Professor. Xavier looked all right despite it all, and Ayen turned over to Caine.

"The question is how do we stop him?"

[Caine]

"That's.... a very good question, actually." The only thing Caine gathered from any of what he saw was that Vilain was working for some weird alien overlord or whatever, and that it knew who he was. He didn't have much else except what he had already gathered about him from his actions at the bank and his little surprise at the club. There wasn't much else that he knew right off the bat, but Caine was smart, when he needed to be at least. He was good at learning and improvising. 

"...Vilain planned out what happened at the bank. He wanted to make people afraid, make them fear supers so we get painted the bad guys and the Registration Act gets passed. Once we're locked up and out of the way, Vilain's free to open whatever crazy doorway his boss, or bosses, need opened to get into this world. There's step one: We need to make sure the act doesn't... get... I didn't even have to finish that sentence to know that's easier said than done...."

[Ayen Matthews]

"Are you all right, Professor?"

"Yes, Ayen. I'll be fine. I have some contacts in D.C. I could discuss about getting the act blocked, but there's only so much we can do legally. The X-Men are needed to stop whatever Vilain wants to open, and I believe it would be best to get Gaia on board as well.

"Where would we even find her?"

"I can find her for you once I had some rest."

"All right. You get some rest."

Xavier left the room and Ayen looked over to Caine.

"What do you think? You ready to run with the X-Men?"