Your time has come Pt2
Posted on Mon Feb 3rd, 2025 @ 20:25 by Effigy & Cameron Johnston & Phoebe Hunter & Ji-an Yun
Chapter:
Besieged
Location: Undercroft, Avalon Institute
Timeline: Late evening, Sunday, February 7th, 1993
2411 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure
Previously in Your time has come
Being able to analyse a situation in a split second, not just as an observation but as a fully-realised thought process, produced a very different Cameron Johnston to the man who had never really learned to spell very well and hadn't read a novel since leaving high school. It was impossible to register just how quickly he became aware of the trouble laying in wait on the other side of the door, nor would it have been easy to calculate just how quickly he was able to judge the distance between himself, the intruder, and the room where Ji-an was sleeping. It was only obvious that the pause of several seconds the pair took to size each other up was far more than necessary, as somewhere amidst his instinctual reaction, Cameron had the presence of mind to yell, "Phoebe, we've got company!" before the jam of a taser buried in a back pocket provoked an instantaneous acceleration that turned him into a full-sized projectile hurtled as a direct interception.
And now, the continuation...
Phoebe sat there dumbstruck for a moment as she felt everything converging on her temporally. "No..." She whispered seeing clearly for the first time in months as she stood a second before the yell echoed. The woman knew it was already too late for her as she reached under her chair and grabbed up the sword. This was the moment that she had prepared for but had never seen clearly. "Ji-an... stay in there." The woman stated clearly as she started for the door.
As in the blink of an eye the man that had stepped into the corridor closed the distance Effigy had no time to react and felt the brunt of his mass colliding with her, hearing a crack in her rib-cage and feeling air escape her lungs. As they tumbled to the ground she twisted her body, the pain of her broken ribs only focusing her efforts. She was just about able to put her feet up against him and with the momentum of falling backwards she pushed off launching him backwards into the corridor in the direction from whence she had come, "Dash" she made a mental note of who she was facing.
The trouble with other mutants, Cameron always liked to point out, was that they tended to have their own trump cards. There was a lack of finesse that suggested at least a hint of random luck to the contact the intruder managed to make but, as always, one of the risks of Cameron's speed was the momentum it gave him to ricochet. In the cramped, confined space of a corridor, he had no hope of reaching top speed and, being more of a mind to incapacitate than seriously injure if he could manage it, suffered a bleeding heart's defeat at the hands of his own velocity. Stopping took a moment, especially at a high-speed tumble, and getting his bearings was likewise as tricky when most of the success of his eventual halt came at the expense of his head smashing into the wall. The world span for a moment and, slumped against a door to catch himself, Cameron shook his head several times in vain to clear the ringing in his ears.
Effigy continued the roll backwards and pushed off the ground with her hands and with a mighty leap she landed back on her feet, now face to face with a redhead woman that just emerged after him, calling towards someone. Ji-an. It wasn't a name familiar to her. Not one of the major threats identified by the G.O.U. She knew that with a speedster she'd have limited time to face off against this woman. It took a moment to place her. "Oracle." She hissed under her breath and rushed towards her, only in the last second she decided to leap up, kick off the wall and use the spin to aim her kick for the head of the pre-cog. Hoping the spur of the moment decision helped mess with her abilities.
Phoebe did not have time to react much more than sharply take a step back so the kick hit her shoulder and it hurt, thankfully it was not her arm that she was holding the sword. "Well, it looks like someone has taken a wrong turn." She said and turned to take in the threat as she rolled her shoulder. "And you are?" Phoebe asked as she blocked the way further down the corridor.
Effigy's focus flicked to the sword. The first priority would be to disarm the opponent. It was clear even from that singular interaction and her immediate defensive stance that she at least had some semblance of training. Effigy didn't bother to engage in conversation as she leapt forward again, this time opting for a straight kick forward. Hoping to illicit a response from the redhead, guessing it would be easier to react to a pre-cog's strikes than it would be to try and catch them off guard.
With his ears still ringing, Cameron attempted to bring the pair into focus and winced. On the cusp of full activation, the ebb and flow of the world around him created a disorienting distortion of sounds and colours. With his senses struggling to pick a speed at which to interpret his surroundings, the speedster risked further loss of advantage by closing his eyes and emptying his lungs of air in one, long exhale. Under no circumstance can you let anyone near her, Cam. In the space between heartbeats, his aubergine friend's voice rose from a plucked memory to demand attention. If they realise we're harbouring a Cat 1, there will be no end to their determination to take control of her. If that happens, with everything it is speculated she is capable of...
He hadn't known what to say then, when Claire's voice had trailed off and her eyes had drilled holes in him in an effort to make her point clear. He still didn't know what to say.
But he knew what he had to do. Whilst the instinct to help Phoebe was strong enough to evoke a snarl of frustration from the normally easy-going mechanic, Cameron turned his attention to the door they were fighting far too close to. A glance behind him gave him a split second to size up the escape route, and as the air around him hovered with the anticipation of a thousand crowded seconds all crammed into one, Cam plucked the best plan he could muster from between the beads of moisture his breath left hanging in the air. Get her to Nessie, come back for Phoebe. Get her to Nessie, come back for Phoebe. Get her...to Nessie.
The wind he left in his wake as he dashed between the flail of duelling limbs to bust into Ji-an's room kicked up the mat that ran the length of the corridor.
"Run and don't you dare come back." Phoebe yelled as she felt the air around her dissipate and the man leave and hoped to god he did not come back for her and got the girl the hell away from there as fast as possible. The kick sent the woman back a little but it gave her a little bit of room to swing the sword between them. The sword felt a lot lighter than it had previously but maybe that was her memory and adrenaline playing tricks on her mind. "Not a talker then."
Effigy looked in the direction that the wind blew. The fact that the entity was unknown to the GOU and the fact that their first concern was about getting her as far away from her as possible spoke to an importance. She'd have to investigate, once she had taken care of the current obstacle in her way. The sword swung just clear of her abdomen. She cocked her head a bit, curious as to why someone would choose to wield a sword in this day and age.
The quiet operative waited for another swing of the sword and immediately stepped into it. The sword had a wide arc and from the design it seemed one of those that was designed for blunt force more so than slashing. The goal of the move was to drive her elbow into the sword wielder's sternum.
“Well aren’t you a flighty one.” Phoebe commented as the woman’s elbow connected with her winding her just a little. It had been a long time since she had had a proper fight like this that had so much risking on it and it was showing how she was thinking things through every move she was taking.
It was the complete opposite for Effigy. Knowing who she was facing, she had banked on the chemicals and cybernetic enhancements to reflexively fight against this opponent. In the hope that it would give little to nothing away about her intentions. Disarm. Neutralise. Those were the only two things going through her mind really. She stepped back to avoid a swing and a jab with the sword. The corridor was bare of anything she could use to arm herself, and upon closer inspection it seemed the sword had been sharp enough to draw blood should it connect. “You should talk less.” She anticipated a swing and jumped to the side, trying to find an angle to kick at the woman’s sword arm and jar loose the sword in her hand.
“I could but I won’t. Nice accent. Not local.” Phoebe would never be one to fight silently. If she was going to fight she was going to talk and refuse to go silently to her death if it came to that. They were pretty evenly matched but with the sword it gave her a little bit of an edge that the pre-cog was going to use to her advantage as it was getting less and less clear how this was going to end.
Another swing, Effigy ducked under it and tried to deliver a liver punch. It was avoided. The operative mentally scalded herself for planning ahead. She tried to empty her thoughts again. Simply reverting back to responding. Dodging. Finding opportunities in the moment, that were unavoidable. It only resulted in a couple of body blows, and she had to pay for those in blood. Then she thought she saw an opportunity to sweep the legs out from under Phoebe. She went in hard.. And hit nothing but air. It gave her a moment to look up at the woman wielding the sword. The silver reflecting the cold fluorescent lights of the corridor.
The history teacher took the opportunity and darted forward with the sword hitting her chest with a crunch and squelch that signified that she had struck well enough even as the woman pushed back from the sword. Phoebe watched the woman as the sword clattered to the floor covered in blood.
Navigation within enclosed spaces was risky enough when it was just him. Now that he cradled a far more valuable treasure against his chest, Cameron had very little time to spare on worrying about logistics. Preparation, as always, was key, and though he'd been ribbed plenty of times about it, the hours spent testing his speed from various points in the underground complex to Nessie's hangar were finally vindicated as he wove his way directly to the crew-hatch on the side of the jet's main body. A swift exchange of load saw him lower Ji-an to her feet as he punched in the access code and then shepherded her inside, motioning towards the very back seat. To her credit, the young girl complied without question, though the expression of wide-eyed calmness on her face as she sank into the seat and stared at her rescuer was immediately interpreted as shock. As much as he couldn't afford the time, Cameron hesitated enough to provide reassurance.
"I'm going to close the door and then activate the security system. It will keep you safe if anyone tries to come in. I just need you to stay here while I go help Ms. Hunter, okay?"
The pair of dark eyes remained fixed on him, unblinking, and for a moment Cameron wondered if the little girl had understood. He opened his mouth to try again and realised the little girl had actually responded. "Sorry, I didn't hear that."
Ji-an, seemingly gripped by a serenity that was disarming, stared right through him and murmured, as if by recollection, "I will help."
"Right now, you can help by staying here. We'll be right back."
It would occur to him later that he should have questioned the way she watched him as the hatchway closed, and the momentary impression that he was dealing with someone far, far older than she looked. He was out of time, however, and without realising it, Cameron filed away the eeriness of the girl's solemn sadness as he secured Nessie's security protocols and turned to make the mad dash back to sparring pair.
That blade had struck true. Effigy had felt the sensation of the cold steel embedding itself into her chest. The downside to lightning fast reflexes and heightened processing speed was that she knew exactly what had happened. Could contemplate its repercussions and push the blade free from its temporary sheath to allow it to clatter to the ground. Her limp body hit the cold flagstones of Avalon's undercroft. The edges of her vision blurred, as the blood stopped flowing through her body. A last gasp of air escaped her and the darkness took over. A fleeting memory of her sisters stirred before everything stopped.
It was not the first time Phoebe had killed someone in defence but this was the first time the person would die nameless as she was clueless who this person was let alone what she was there for. The history teacher looked her over but felt nothing from the woman at all no spark of recognition just the ck fusion and sadness that she had, had to kill in self defence. She winced at the way her body ached as she turned to gather her weapon and to figure out what she was going to do about the body.
