Post by thejellyfish on May 1, 2015 18:08:58 GMT -5
Astonishing X-Men #5
Builders
by thejellyfish
The Mind of Douglas Ramsey
Morning
Doug Ramsey walked through what seemed to be a wooden room unlike any he’s ever seen and next to him, a being stood. “Let’s see, fire place, weird alien thing, and I’ve never seen this room before. I suppose I’m dreaming and yet I’m completely lucid,” he said taking a few steps, advancing nowhere before pausing. “What the hell did I do last night?”
Dorm Hallway, Xavier Mansion
Meanwhile
“Doug, wake up!” exclaimed Kitty, as she banged her fists against the door to Doug’s room. “A freshman stuck his… thing… in the… other thin – look, I don’t wanna get into what exactly happened, but we’ve got some cleaning to do. Chop chop!” she said with a clap. Kitty waited a few moments, before looking in both directions and phasing into his room.
Kitty entered the room to see Doug lying on his bed sweating profusely, and bleeding from his nose. ‘Professor Xavier, something’s wrong with Doug. He needs help, now!’ she mentally called out.
Hank McCoy ran into the room quickly with the Professor following behind. “Oh my stars and garters, what happened?”
“I don’t know, I walked in and he was like this.”
“Get him down to the subbasement. Make sure none of the students see him,” said Xavier. “We have to enough to deal with right now.”
Da Costa International Lobby, Manhattan
Later
“C’mon Stormy, you can’t really be angry with the poor guy,” said Remy LeBeau, while fiddling around with a pack of playing cards.
“I can and I am. He stuck his-“ started Ororo Monroe before being interrupted.
“I was talkin’ ‘bout Doug. Not… that,” said Remy with a shudder. “I thought you was angry ‘bout the team being split up, considering this Da Costa fella wanted to meet wit’ all of us.”
Ororo looked at Remy, and then moved her eyes to Kurt, Julian, and Meggan, all of which were being given strange looks from the others in the lobby. “I think we’ll be fine if something comes up. I understand that Douglas needs everyone right now.”
“I knew he was having trouble sleeping; I mean, it wasn’t exactly a secret, but to think that that led to whatever that was with him?” asked Remy, leaving the question hanging and shaking his head.
A sharp dressed woman walked over to the group. “Mr. Da Costa will see you now,” she said as she motioned over towards the elevator that had just opened.
Subbasement, Xavier Mansion
Meanwhile
“We’ve got Doug stabilized, now how did this happen?” asked Betsy Braddock, standing over by Kitty a ways away from the table Doug was laying on.
“He had been having trouble sleeping. I asked what he had been dreaming about, but he said he couldn’t remember what they were about,” Kitty replied.
“I can sense him, he’s there. Getting him out shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” said Charles. He was standing by Doug’s table and concentrating on finding his thoughts.
Hank McCoy looked up from a student with green scales, currently in critical condition after losing his arm. “And how simple would freeing him from,” said Hank with a pause as he looked at Doug, “that work, if I may ask?”
“Katherine and I go in there and get him out, of course,” replied Charles pointing at Doug’s head. “Betsy, Katherine, go to Cerebro. Katherine, sit in the chair; Betsy can then mind link you to me, allowing you to send your mind into Doug’s.” Charles then laid down on the table next to Doug and concentrated.
Da Costa International Offices, Manhattan
Meanwhile
“Whoa. This place is sooo Mad Men. Hey Julian, your dad’s office anything like this?” asked Meggan, as she looked around at the Sixties-styled decorations on the wall as they stepped out of the elevator. The office was large and felt as if it were from the past, but was really in the future.
“Not my dad’s office anymore,” mumbled Julian in reply. “And he hated Mad Men.” Julian lifted his metallic hand towards the glass of the wall sized aquarium to tap it with a finger.
“Why would your father hate Mad Men?” asked a voice with a subtle accent, startling the group into facing the desk at the end of the room. “Sorry. My apologies, I did not mean to startle you all,” he said with a chuckle. The man was handsome from head-to-toe. Dark tan, darker hair, smug grin, and a thousand dollar suit to tie it all together.
“I’m Roberto Da Costa, but back to the matter at hand though. Julian, I didn’t know your father hated such a modern classic.”
“Zhat’s debatable,” muttered Kurt.
“I’ll have to speak with him and James about this during our next meeting,” finished Roberto, once again shocking the group.
“How’d you know Julian?” asked Remy, pointing his index finger at the man and back to Julian.
Roberto looked at his watch before speaking, “Because, as of twenty minutes ago, Keller Pharmaceuticals is now Da Costa Pharmaceuticals, a division of Da Costa International. I know of Julian here because as I was going through the rich history of the Keller family, I found that the two of us share something.”
“You’re both hot,” answered Meggan, as everyone looked at her incredulously. “What? We’re all thinking it.”
“Thanks, Meg,” replied Julian sarcastically.
“No, in fact, it’s something I share with all of you,” said Roberto. All of a sudden, his skin turned as black as his hair, his eyes glowed yellow, and small black spots bounced off of his skin. “I’m a mutant. You may know m-“
“You’re Sunspot,” stated Remy very matter-of-factly before turning to look at Ororo. “And I called it.”
“You did not,” replied Ororo.
The Mind of Douglas Ramsey
Meanwhile (Again)
“Professor, what’s the deal with all these doors?” asked Kitty as she walked through a hallway filled with doors, each door labeled something different.
“We are in Doug’s subconscious. Essentially, the rooms on the other side of these doors are thoughts that are in the back of Douglas’ mind,” said Xavier as he pointed out two doors, one labeled ‘Do I Exist?’ and the other labeled ‘People That Are Hot.’ Kitty scoffed at the latter door. “Don’t judge, Katherine. Everyone has one of those.”
Eventually, the pair reached a door that was labeled with odd markings instead of an actual language and was carved in strange symbols and shapes, all of them connected by lines. “I’m just gonna go ahead and guess that that’s where Doug is,” stated Kitty.
“You would be correct in this assumption, I can feel him in there; but my question is, how did he learn this?”
Kitty opened the door to find Doug and a creature. The creature was bipedal and humanoid, yet had insect-like features, such as a mandible and an exoskeleton. The creature moved towards Xavier. “YOU! YOU BROKE THE SYSTEM! ONLY HE CAN FIX IT NOW!”
“What the hell?” asked Kitty.
“THE LANGUAGE! OUR LANGUAGE, OUR CODE! IT IS TRAPPED WITHIN HIM! IT FLOWS, BUT CANNOT BE FREE!”
“Professor, Kitty. He’s shown me things. Things I can do, things I will do. But, I need time,” Doug explained. “I need to learn.”
“YOU WILL LEAVE, CHARLES XAVIER AND KATHERINE PRYDE, BEFORE YOU CAUSE MORE DAMAGE TO THE SYSTEMS MY KIND HAVE BUILT,” said the creature, as he outstretched his hand and expelled Kitty and Xavier out of Doug’s mind.
Da Costa International Offices, Manhattan
Meanwhile
“So, Mr. Da Costa. Do you know why we are here?” asked Ororo.
“Because Charles called and I owe him. And you need resources to do… what exactly?” asked Roberto.
“We wish to build a home for all mu-“ Ororo started before being interrupted by Remy.
“A home for all those that feel they don’ belong. Not jus’ mutants, but everyone.” Remy paused to look at Ororo. “Stormy, I know what the Professor said, but how can we quarantine ourselves off from the world and still expect to have a say in protectin’ it?”
“Remy, I agree, but what will Charles say?”
“Nothing, he put us in charge. You an’ I. We make the decisions when it comes to Utopia.”
“That’s what this whole thing is about? Charles wants to create a Utopia? Shit, you guys are gonna need a lot more help than I thought. Or, you guys, for that matter,” said Roberto pointing at Remy and Ororo. “I will help you. And that includes joining the X-Men, on one condition. No one can know that Roberto da Costa and Sunspot are one and the same.”
Ororo outstretched her hand and grabbed Roberto’s, shaking it. “Deal.”
Xavier’s Mansion, Westchester
Later
“Guys! Vhere are you?” asked Kurt as he teleported through the foyer of the mansion, looking for the rest of the team.
“We’re in here, Kurt,” called Hank from the lounge.
The rest of the away team made their way towards the lounge, only to find that the mood was somber. “What happened?” asked Julian.
“Is Doug okay?” asked Meggan a second later.
“No,” replied Betsy from one end of the room. Meggan began crying and Julian placed his hands on her shoulders and wrapped her up in a hug. Betsy looked at her fiancé, and opened a mind link with him. ‘She’s in her room; you should go talk to her.’ Remy immediately exited from the room and headed to the dorms.
Remy made his way to Kitty’s room and once he reached it, knocked on the door. “Kitty? I know that ya in there.”
“Go away, Remy,” she yelled from inside the room. He turned the knob, it was locked.
“I could just pick the lock. You know that, right?”
“I’ll punch you.”
“You’ll get sent home if ya do that.”
“This place is my home.”
“I know,” replied Remy in a soft voice. “Let me in. You shouldn’ go through this alone.”
And with that, the door opened and Kitty wrapped her arms around him, buried her face into his shirt, and let her tears flow. “I don’t know why… he said he had to… I…”
Remy wrapped his own arms around her and cupped the back of her head and shushed her. “It’s okay, chere. Everything’s gon’ be alright. I promise,” he said as he began to sway in a calming motion.
The Mind of Douglas Ramsey
Earlier
“YOUR FRIEND, SHE FEELS FOR YOU NO LONGER.”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean,” replied Doug.
“I SPEAK OF LOVE, DOUGLAS RAMSEY. SHE LOVED YOU AS YOU LOVED HER. THAT IS NO LONGER THE CASE.”
And with that, the creature outstretched his hand and clenched it into a fist. Doug suddenly felt as if a weight was lifted from him, but could not explain why exactly that was the case.
“NOW SIT. IT IS TIME YOU LEARNED TO CREATE WITH YOUR WORDS, AS THE BUILDERS DID ONCE BEFORE YOU.”
Next Time: Origins: Goddess of Rain and Wind