Fire and Family (Part 1)
Posted on Mon Mar 31st, 2025 @ 13:38 by Jonathan Monroe & Rebecca McMillen & Effigy
Chapter:
Besieged
Location: Administrative Offices, Avalon Institute
Timeline: Late evening, Wednesday, February 10th, 1993
2101 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure
Getting back into the institute had become much more of a hassle now that the residents were on high alert. Especially with the sheer amount of abilities they had at their disposal for protection and detection. Regardless, Effigy had been able to make use of the same vulnerability in the institute's exterior and made her way back into the Head Teacher's office. Their asset had informed them that there was plenty of information on the staff and students in administration, which is why before her mission would take her back down to the undercroft the G.O.U. operative had been ordered to go through the staff files that Winifred hadn't been able to access.
Walking the halls of the almost-silent Institute, Jonathan's mind hadn't been as distracted for quite some time. The loss of Cameron had hit him harder than most; they'd first arrived within weeks of one another, and as both Knights and as men of a similar outlook, he was mourning what was essentially his best friend at Avalon outside of Claire. Who, tragically, wasn't there for him either. And then of course Kaylee had left. His list of people he felt comfortable talking to had practically halved in the space of a week.
The patrol of the old castle's upper floors was supposed to help give his mind something to do. If not for Rebecca, he might have found it of less benefit. As much as he hadn't wanted to talk to anyone, she was at least able to keep him out of his shell.
"Still quiet," he remarked, giving her a quick glance. "Anything from your little friends?"
Rebecca's mind had been wandering of late as well. Cameron was her friend, not as much as he might have been for others, but that was her own fault for being reclusive, being withdrawn, being... mousey. She blamed herself for not being more open and friendly. Nevermind that one more friend wouldn't have made the difference in the end. All that meant was there was, in theory, one person with slightly less of a connection to the deceased. Everywhere she looked, though, she saw connections to Cameron she lacked. Whereas one would think being spared was a mercy, in truth she was more alone than ever.
"Let me check in." she offered, heading to a wall vent. "Hey..." she called into the vent. While there was no change in her tone or her demeanor that any humanoid could tell, to her friends she was playing their music. After a bit of waiting, something scampered up behind the vent. Beady eyes, brown fur, squeaky. Oh boy was it squeaky. Chitter chitter chitter. "Oh really? That's very unusual. Thank you so much!" she offered before her informant scampered back into the darkness.
"There's a light on in one of the big empty offices, and a new smell." she interpreted from Mouse. "Yeah I know I know, I'm trying to teach them the layout and names, but since I'M bad with names... big empty offices... let's head towards administrative and then I can ask again." the mousey blonde offered.
"And before you ask, I don't think you want to know how many." Another facet that made her feel a little more on the outside. Her power dealt with something most people didn't want to think about.
"Administrative, then." He nodded, a little quieter than he usually might have been. It was probably nothing to worry about. "I just figured they followed you. Like the Pied Piper."
The lock on the filing cabinet wasn't an obstacle, and had she had more time Effigy would've surely taken a more subtle approach. But the mission parameters stated, get in, get out, minimal contact. After what happened the last two times the General and the Doctor didn't want to stir up any more shit, but the information on their faculty could be very useful indeed in the trial to come. If they could prove that Claire was harbouring fugitives from the law they'd be able to shut this whole operation down.
As it was she simply ripped the drawer through the lock and started pushing the dossiers into her messenger bag. That's when she heard a squeek and some scratching sound from the walls.
Rats.
She continued to push files, the names barely registering until she came to one specific folder. A splitting headache immediately disrupted her thinking as her mind struggled against the chemical and cybernetic blocks that had been placed on her memories and thoughts.
"I mean, you're not really wrong. They do like being around me, but I don't know if that's because I can talk to them or they just instinctively want to be around me. If that's just part of who I am, some kind of mouse magnet." Rebecca offered. "It's hard to really describe, because to be honest I don't really know how I do what I do. It's like trying to explain what color an apple is to a blind person." she continued, to the best of her ability. Sometimes she wished she had a simpler, more mundane ability. Something she could feel comfortable calling a talent, or a gift. Something she could easily hide. Something that didn't put her in a cage.
"Should be just past that corner." a pause, her head tilted to the side in the silence, "Did you h... nah, it was nothing. C'mon."
Not really picking up on Rebecca's momentary distraction, Jonathan walked ahead towards the door to the administrative offices. "All I'm gonna say is, some people can be put-off by having them scratching around all the time..." he continued, reaching for the door handle.
"Sorry about that. They don't exactly make Nikes in their size." she joked, poking her head around as the door opened. The administrative wing was one that she didn't have to visit very often, thankfully. Paperwork was her least favorite s-
"Huh. Someone left a light on."
As soon as the door cracked open Effigy had taken up a defensive position, then when a head popped around the corner she immediately grabbed at the collar and flung the 'intruding' party inside against the admin desk separating Jhanvi's workspace from the main area of the admin offices. Then she launched a kick into the second person that was still holding on to the door handle, it sent him flying backwards into the hallway. "Blaze." She registered the risk involved with facing off against the firestarter, but she still hadn't found the files she had been sent in to recover.
Quickly she turned, looking around the room, the blond girl she had sent flying inside stirred something inside her. Something that railed against the biochemical and cybernetic blocks in place. "Crit-.." She stopped herself, the prowling predator like stance slackened and her eyes softened. "Becca?"
Rats were known for many things. Their prowess of flight was not among them. Rebecca gave an undignified squeak as she was grabbed and tossed across the room to collide with the desk, "EEEEEP!" went the squeak, and then with the thud of impact there was a hiss through clenched teeth as a hand immediately went to the impact site to cradle the bruise that was forming. "Oww, oww owwwwww!" she complained, adrenaline numbing the pain. How do people do this constantly? She didn't quite know, but she had to let someone know, let anyone know that there was an intruder. She looked up to the ventilation system, "Get help, bring anyone here." she called up to the vent, before something aside from "claws on aluminum" clicked.
This intruder called her by name.
"Y... Yes?" she decided to try the unusual approach, still cradling her side a bit from the desk. "I'm Rebecca." thank god she didn't lead with Critter. Well, she almost did.
The door crashed open a second time as a walking blue avatar of fire lurched into the room purposefully, eyes near-white with both power and fury.
"You." The word curled from Jonathan's rage-filled expression. It was her: the one Phoebe had mentioned. The one responsible for Cameron's death. The one that Jonathan was about to take out several days' worth of grief on. With heat radiating from a furious core, he strode towards the intruder with an intense determination to avenge that loss.
As the doors burst open once more and the blazing man stepped inside Effigy's self defence programming kicked back in. The moment of hesitance and contemplation seemed immediately gone. She stepped in, the heat rippling through the air and immediately latching on to her skin. The protective clothing did something to help shield her but she could already feel that she shouldn't remain in his proximity for long. She aimed a kick at his chest to create some more room between them, that was to be step one. After that she'd figure out the best exit strategy.
Rebecca was no good in a fight. That much she knew, her whole life was running away. Jonathan made for a fantastic distraction, though with all this paper around a blaze like Blaze was a definite fire hazard. But why were the file cabinets o-- THE FILES!
Rebecca slammed the file cabinet shut, and picked up the folders that were laying on the ground. Each of them a student. A teacher. A friend. "I got these!" she announced to Jon before diving behind the admin desk, holding the folders tight to her chest as she started to shrink. Down, down, down to the size of just a humble mouse, looking to run under furniture, scurry about like the mice she knew so well. She never brought so many things down with her, so she held onto the folders as tight as she could.
Barely even registering Rebecca's actions, Jonathan had locked-in hard on the intruder. There was no way she was escaping from him. Collateral damage be damned; this was personal. And in a moment driven by emotion rather than wisdom, he decided this was a fight that he was going to take to his adversary. After all, few people were capable of withstanding a pair of superheated hands wrapped around their throats.
As the blazing man stepped towards her Effigy dropped into a defensive stance. He was certainly hot headed, like the file on him had specified. She could certainly use that against him.
"I'm going to make you regret coming back here..." he growled, charging forward. The action was a reckless one, and indeed triggered by a desire for vengeance rather than strategy. He launched himself at the smaller intruder, only for her to move with hideous agility. Too late he realised that even burning as hot as he was, getting close to her was the worst thing he could have done. A pair of feet came upward into his chest, his surprised face likely the last thing she saw as his movement was fluidly redirected and his body tumbled through the air. At first he expected to feel the stone of the wall against his back; but to his horror the kick-toss had thrown him directly towards the window. His eyes widened for a brief moment before his body smashed through the stained glass and into the cold night air.
Effigy stood in the middle of the room, the outfit she was wearing was fire retardant enough not to set itself on fire, but the skin underneath had definitely boiled. Even the short bit of contact with the man would have left anyone that didn't have her particular skill set in agony on the floor. She looked around and locked eyes on the woman that had been with him, mind focused on the mission. The moment they made eye contact the mission was gone, the splitting headache returned. She grabbed at the half-mask covering her face and pulled it away. Throwing her hood back. "Becca." She fell to a knee, trying to catch her breath. Then she looked up, familiar eyes locking on.
It had been so long since she had seen her. Since the way they had treated her had driven her away. It was probably well over a year now. They had been driven apart by bigotry and lack of understanding. And then when things started to unravel for herself Jillian had nobody to turn to. That's when the G.O.U. showed up on their doorstep. That's when she became Effigy.
She had made plenty of mistakes, but the worse one was the way she had treated Rebecca. The way she had treated her sister.
