00041. Helping to give a little closure.

00041. Helping to give a little closure.

Ezekiel spoke up and said, “Welcome to our hidden base, we don’t really have a name for it yet. Now if you would follow me in a moment, I wanna get you something to wear and then talk to a few people.”

Ezekiel looked at Kaecilius and said, “I have a few more things I need you to do, if you don’t mind?”

Kaecilius nodded yes in reply, so Ezekiel said, “Go grab Steve, and Sarah. Ask her if she can show him who Zander Rice and Robert Chandler are. I need them brought back here and taken to the chamber. Once that is done, I want you to join us for something. You can also tell Sarah that she should join us and to bring along Laura as well.”

Kaecilius nodded before he walked out of the room to find Steve and Sarah. As he did, Ezekiel turned to Cessily and said, “If you would follow me, let's get you something to wear.”

Cessily didn’t respond, but followed Ezekiel out of the room and through a wide hallway. After a minute they came to a secured door, which opened up when Ezekiel grabbed the door handle.

Inside was a small armory, they walked inside and Ezekiel walked over to a closet recessed into the wall that had a body mirror next to it. He pulled out a pair of black combat pants, a belt and a plain black t-shirt shirt before he handed it to Cessily and said, “Sorry, this is all we really have here. Do you need shoes?”

Cessily took the clothes and shook her head as she said, “No this should be fine, thank you.”

She quickly put on the pants and shirt, the pants almost fit her hips correctly, but the belt helped secure it properly. The t-shirt was too big for her. So she pulled it up some and tied one side of it into a knot, making it look like she was now wearing a crop top. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment before she nodded her head to herself and turned to look at Ezekiel as she asked, “Now what?”

“Now I need to go check with Tobirama and make sure he doesn’t need any help.”

“You’ve said his name a few times, who is he?”

Ezekiel nodded and said, “He is a friend and a ninja!”

Cessily gave him a flat look, which made Ezekiel smile as he said, “What? It’s true. We really are a group of super spies, ninjas and sorcerers. We just used magic to transport here and you think ninja’s aren’t real?”

Cessily looked a little confused as she asked, “That was magic? Kaecilius isn’t a mutant like me? I thought that portal thing was his power?”

Ezekiel shook his head as he walked out of the room and said, “Nope, that was magic. Kaecilius is a master of the mystic arts.”

"Master of the mystic arts? Is that like his job title or something?"

Ezekiel laughed before he said, "No, his official job title is 'Shuttle bus or teacher'."

Cessily gave Ezekiel another look as they were walking and said, “Really? I doubt you call him a shuttle bus?”

“I might not call him that, but that is what he is. Think about it, all he did was transport people around today. What would you call that as a job?”

Cessily was quiet for a few moments in thought, before she asked, "Isn’t that called a chauffeur?"

As Ezekiel was about to reply, they heard a young girl yelling, “NO FAIR AVA! YOU CAN’T USE YOUR POWERS FOR TAG, THAT’S CHEATING!”

They heard another girl laughing before she appeared through the wall in front of them. A few seconds later another girl ran out from a door down the hall in front of them as she yelled, “GET BACK HERE YOU CHEATER!”

The half invisible girl turned to the other girl and blew a raspberry as she turned solid, before she turned around to run away but stopped in her tracks. She looked at Cessily for a moment, before she ran up to Ezekiel and gave him a hug as she said, “You're back! Where have you been? You said you would play with us today.”

Ezekiel smiled as he gave Ava a hug back, before he let go and then ruffled her hair a little when he patted her head. He gave her a smirk as he said, “I had some important stuff to do, like making a new friend."

Ezekiel pointed next to him and said, “This is Cessily.”

Ezekiel looked at Cessily and said, “Cessily, this young lady is Ava and the girl right behind her is Mary.”

Ava’s eyes went wide as she turned around to look at Mary, but it was already too late. Mary touched Ava’s arm as she said, “I got you, you cheater!”

Mary smiled at Cessily and stuck out her hand as she said, “Hi! I am Mary Sue Poots, it’s nice to meet you.”

Cessily smiled slightly as she reached out and shook Mary’s hand as she said, “It’s nice to meet you, I am Cessily Kincaid.”

“Oh wow! Your hand feels cold. That’s neat. Are you made of metal? Oh, are you also an orphan like us? Well Ava isn’t really an orphan anymore, she has Uncle Bill.”

Cessily’s body started to shake and deform slightly as Ezekiel quickly put a hand on her shoulder as he said, “It’s okay, just take a breath.”

Cessily’s body stopped deforming after a few moments, before her body hardened again. She put on a weak smile as she said, “Yes, I am now an orphan.”

Mary looked down at the floor as she said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Ezekiel chopped Mary on the head and said, “It’s fine, you didn’t know. Now both of you run along, we have some stuff we need to do.”

Both Ava and Mary nodded their heads, before they each said, “It was nice to meet you!” Then they took off down the hall and ran into the door Mary came out of earlier.

As Ezekiel and Cessily started walking again she asked, “Are there a lot of orphaned kids here?”

Ezekiel shook his head and said, “Only a few, there is a lot more at Xavier’s school. You would be surprised how many people just abandon or disown their kids when they find out they are mutants.”

It became quiet after that as they walked down the hallways for a few minutes. Ezekiel stopped at a door and opened it up, inside the room was about fifteen people. A few were grouped together working on different projects, a few were alone reading books, the rest of them seemed to be talking about something. The group that was talking together is who Ezekiel walked towards, with Cessily following behind him.

“Tobirama I know it was short notice but did you finish them?”

Tobirama turned around and answered, “Yes I just finished, but I thought you wanted to use this sparingly.”

Another person spoke up and asked, “I also thought that is what we agreed on.”

Ezekiel nodded, but then said, “Slight change of plans, two more won’t hurt.”

“Two more this time, what about next time?”

Ezekiel let out a sigh and said, “Hopefully there won’t be a next time, but I will make that call on a person to person basis. Any other complaints, Orochimaru?”

Orochimaru huffed a little before his tongue slipped out of the side of his mouth and flickered there for a moment. When he pulled his tongue back in he said, “No, but make sure you remember. We are in this together, if something happens and you die, we also die.”

Ezekiel laughed as he said, “You should also keep that in mind if the next project works.”

Ezekiel turned to Cessily and said, “Sorry Cessily, let me introduce you to Orochimaru, Tobirama and Kabuto. They might look a little funny, but they are some of the smartest people you will ever meet.”

Kabuto pushed up his glasses as he said, “It’s nice to meet you, I am Kabuto.”

Tobirama bowed his head slightly and said, “It’s a pleasure, I am Tobirama Senju.”

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed a little as he eyed Cessily up and down as he said, “I am Orochimaru and you look absolutely delicious.” His tongue flicked out of his mouth a little as he finished.

Ezekiel let out a long sigh as he said, “Stop being a creep Pedomaru, you are going to scare her.”

Ezekiel looked back at Cessily and said, “Sorry about Pedomaru, he has issues acting like a normal person.”

Cessily just nodded in response but also took a step back and moved slightly behind Ezekiel. Ezekiel frowned a little and looked back at Orochimaru, who he gave a glare to as he said, “There is a reason so many people think you are a creep, try to tone it down a little.”

He then looked at Tobirama and said, “Lets go to the chamber, Steve should be on his way already.”

Tobirama nodded and walked towards the door with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Ezekiel followed next with Cessily next to him. It took them a minute, but they made it to the chamber and saw Steve carrying two people, one on each shoulder. Next to him was Kaecilius with Sarah and Laura following slightly behind them both. Ezekiel stopped at the door to the chamber with Cessily and waited for Steve and the rest.

When they got close Ezekiel smiled and said, “Hope you don’t mind the light work out.”

Steve smiled back and said, “This doesn’t even count as a warm up.”

Steve glanced at Cessily who was next to Ezekiel as he asked, “You sure about doing this? I know you said there could be issues if we do this too much.”

Ezekiel gave a wide grin as he said, “Doing the right thing isn’t really a choice, is it?”

Steve gave his thousand watt smile as he said, “No, no it isn’t.”

Ezekiel pointed to Cessily and said, “Steve, I would like you to meet, Cessily Kincaid.”

Ezekiel pointed at Steve and said, “Cessily, this is a friend of mine, Steve Rogers.”

Cessily smiled slightly and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Steve gave a slight nod as he said, “Pleasure to meet you. If you will excuse me, I need to hand these guys over to Tobirama.”

Cessily nodded as Steve walked inside along with Kaecilius, while Sarah walked up to Ezekiel with a frown. She said in a slightly hushed voice, “How in the hell is Steve Rogers here and how come he doesn’t look like he has aged a day?!?!”

Cessily and Laura both looked a little confused as Ezekiel smiled and said, “I will tell you after we finalize your deal to stay here. Right now we have something important to do.” Ezekiel extended his hand towards the door as he said, “After you.”

Sarah, Laura and Cessily walked into the room followed by Ezekiel. The inside of the room was plain with no decorations. There was an intricate pattern drawn on the floor with two tables in the middle. Strapped down on each table were the men that Steve had brought in. Each of them were secured tightly to the table and both had a ball gag in their mouth. Steve, Kaecilius, Sarah, Laura and Cessily were off to one side of the room, while Orochimaru, Tobirama and Kabuto were double checking everything.

Ezekiel walked over to the two people on the tables and gave each of them a solid slap to wake them up. They groggily came around, but Zander was more aware and was staring daggers at Ezekiel. Ezekiel gave him a wicked grin as he said, “Don’t worry Zander this is the last time you will ever see me. Now don’t blink, you don’t wanna miss what happens.”

Ezekiel stepped back to the group as he said, “Alright, start with Robert first. Then you can start Zander after thirty seconds.”

Tobirama nodded as he started to do some hand signs before he said, “Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!” As he placed a hand over the first man’s head that had a seal on it.

The man started to thrash around as his skin started to flake off his body and fall towards a small petri dish on the floor. Everyone was quiet, even Zander, as he stared in wide eyed horror at what was happening to the man next to him. After half a minute, Tobirama repeated the process on Zander, who joined the other man as they both wailed in agony. Sarah, Cessily and Kaecilius were watching in shock what was happening, while Laura looked almost indifferent to it.

When both men finally finished screaming, Ezekiel turned to Cessily and said, “Cessily, once this is finished you will only have forty-eight hours. So make the best of the time you have.”

Cessily, Sarah, Kaecilius and Laura all looked at Ezekiel in confusion after he spoke. Cessily asked after a moment, “I don’t understand, what’s going to happen in forty-eight hours?”

Ezekiel pointed to the two piles of ash that were taking shape as he said, “It’s when this spell ends.”

Cessily watched quietly as the piles of ash slowly formed into a man and woman. Sarah let out a gasp after a moment and Cessily began to shake as her body began to deform. Ezekiel’s hand grasped her shoulder as he said calmly, “You only have forty-eight hours, make the best of this you can.”

Cessily’s voice cracked as she asked, “Am… I’m not dreaming, right? Please don’t let this be a dream.”

Ezekiel squeezed her shoulder a little as he said, “This isn’t a dream, but you do have a time limit. I wish I could do more for you, but this is the best I can do.”

Cessily didn’t reply, but her body was hardening slowly. After a minute the woman’s eyes opened as she yelled, “JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU DID TO MY DAUGHTER!”

After that she looked around in shock before her eyes focused on Cessily and she ran forward embracing her in a tight hug as she said, “Thank god you are okay sweetie! Those terrible people didn’t do anything to you did they?”

As the woman was hugging Cessily the man opened his eyes and yelled out, “YOU COWARDS, TELL ME WHERE MY DAUGHTER AND WIFE ARE!”

He pulled up his hands to fight, before he stopped as he saw his wife hugging Cessily. He quickly moved next to them and embraced them both in a bear hug. None of them talked after that for a few moments before Ezekiel finally said, “I don’t want to break up this family reunion, but you are on a time limit.”

Cessily was the first to release her hug and her mother and father followed suit right after. Cessily looked at her parents for another moment before she glanced at Ezekiel and asked, “How is this even possible?”

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “That doesn’t matter right now, what matters is your parents are here now and you need to make the best of it.”

Ezekiel turned to Cessily’s parents and said, “Mr and Mrs. Kincaid, it's great to meet you. If you and your daughter will follow my friend Kaecilius, he will take you to a very nice island that you can enjoy with your daughter for the next couple days.”

Cessily grabbed both of her parent’s hands before they could talk as she said, “I will tell you everything that happened when we get to this island.”

Ezekiel glanced at Kaecilius and said, “I know you have a question… Yes I will, but you will have the same time limit. Now if you wouldn’t mind transporting them, we can hash out the details later.”

Kaecilius’s eyes had the slightest hint of moisture in them as he nodded his head, before he started to walk out of the room. Cessily smiled at Ezekiel for a moment, before she dragged her parents out of the room following Kaecilius. Everyone could hear them start bombarding Cessily with questions as they walked away. As Ezekiel turned around, Sarah asked, “What in the fuck was that?”

Ezekiel grinned as he said, “Summoning Impure World Reincarnation. It basically shreds the target's soul and uses it to bring back the target's soul for a limited time.”

Sarah just stared at Ezekiel but couldn’t think of what to say, he smiled back at her as he said, “I have a speech I need to proofread, if you have questions ask Tobirama. He is the crazy person who made the technique.”

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