10/21/2008
Logfile from Emma.

=NYC= Manhattan Mall - Midtown - Manhattan
Keeping with an 'open concept' idea, the Sunrise Mall sports a large front lobby area - complete with a massive fountain located smack dab in the middle - its spray shooting up towards cathedral ceilings. Behind the fountain are tall, marble pillars that flank either side of dual escalators, their whiteness broken-up by ornamental circuits of bronze and brass. Those adornments match the rest of the decor, from the railings along the second floor patio, down to the new-age style benches lining the corridors that split off from the foyer. Everything looks so very shiny and new, though it's certain that it won't stay that way for long; especially after the swarms of teenagers have settled in.

'You Break It, You Buy It' is a very unfortunate policy for Alice. As such, she is laden down with a bunch of useless junk that she never wanted from the numerous stores the trio has visited, but didn't have much of a choice not to buy. She had quickly gone through her own meagre resources and had to tap into the pockets of her friends. With a wan, sheepish smile she glances at the others, hefting the bags of commerical goods as she struggles along, "Look, um. T-thanks for covering for me. I'll pay you guys back, I p-promise. And you can have any of this stuff if you want it." Suddenly, there is a loud growl deep in the green haired girl's tummy and she blushes vividly before letting out a cascade of nervous laughter, "G-guess it's lunchtime."

Cess trails behind Walter and Alice, her feet still caked with a layer of mud from the previous night's explorations. She shakes her head at Alice's insistence to pay waving a silvery hand dismissively. "No big hurry, my parents keep sending me pocket money for food and stuff. They haven't really caught onto certain aspects of my.. uh.. situation." She explains, before raising an eyebrow at Alice's grumbling tummy. "Speaking of food and stuff.." Grins she from below the hood of her black hoodie, silver hands stuffing back into the pockets of her jeans.

"I have some glue we can use on some of that stuff," Walter offers sympathetically, making his way down the well journeyed path to the food court almost by memory. His own bag of stuff is considerably smaller than Alice's, not having made much in the way of purchases for himself. CD here, DVD there, and a new novel. "We should see if we can get you a new hoodie," he suggests to Cessily.

X-kids are so much fun. You just /have/ to love them. Love talking with them, love being around them, or just love messing with them. It's not like it's hard to keep informed about the student population of Xavier's school, especially since it went public. So when the trio weave their way toward the food court, passing a striking looking blonde, her attention is arrested. And when Emma's attention is arrested, /all/ of her attention surges forward in contemplation. << Ah... we have forgotten about Xavier and his pets, >> a shadowed voice whispers to her. << Especially his red-haired one. There may be advantage here... Let's see. >>

She falls into step several feet behind them, and sends a tendril of suggestion spinning outward.

There is more than one blonde watching the trio of teenagers. The other one is striking as well, but probably not in quite the same sort of a way. Sabretooth doesn't blend into the background very well. He is dressed in a tight black top and black fatigue pants, his hair tied back and away from his face. The not-so-typical dress doesn't make him any less obvious. He steps out from one of the mall's store fronts directly in front of the trio, right on his cue. His black eyes focus on the three of them as he looms before them, a particularly ugly grin spreading his lips and showing his overly long canines. He gives them no words, just one low, menacing growl.

"And new shoes," Alice adds to Walter's statement, looking down at Cessily's feet before doing the same to her own rather muddy and abused shoes, "I g-guess I could use a pair, too." Her tummy rumbles again in protest, and the green haired teen looks up and smiles lopsidedly, "But, uh... f-food first, I think." As they pass Emma, Alice gives a cursory once-over of her -- there is a faint flash of recognition, but nothing substantial; rich socialites are Mostly Harmless and so don't have prominent entries in the Lists constantly racing and churning through the white void of her mind. So Alice just smiles in passing and continues on her way. But then Sabretooth steps in front of the trio. This one, Alice -does- recognize and the Lists in her mind start immediately sounding the warning Klaxon. Alice's eyes widen and her jaw drops, fear and panic immediately coursing through her entire body and mind. "Um... um... g-guys... m-maybe we should... l-l-leave." She's already backing away, some of her 'purchases' falling to the floor (hey, look! One of those goofy toy monkeys with the cymbols!). She doesn't bother to retrieve them.

With her attention firmly on the ground in front of her, and the state of her shoes, Cessily doesn't notice when she passes by Emma, instead she responds to Walt and Alice. "Yeah, it'd be nice not to hear a squelch with every step. Just sucks that I lost my old pai-" She is rather abruptly interrupted, walking right into the back of Alice when the girl suddenly stops. She lifts her head, pulling the black hood of her sweater up so she can stare at the imposing form before her. "Oh crap.. is that?" She begins, before the growling concretes the recognition in her mind. She starts backing away too, nodding to Alice with wide eyes. "Yeah.. definitely."

There's no question from the most experienced of the Xavierittes, nor is there much in the way of hesitation. "Grab on!" Walter yells to Cessily, spinning to scoop up Alice like a small child, preparing to haul tail.

Emma doesn't make a move to intercept them. She takes no notice of their predicament, though a few of the crowd of geriatric patrons that is most common at this time of day do. /She/ looks around for a nice, quiet little corner, and settles on an employee only entrance to the bowels of the mall nearby. Power and control combine to direct the children's attention that way.

Sabretooth steps forward. That cymbal-banging monkey on the floor may well be named Candice Donnelly. Creed's combat boot crunches down on it's head as he begins advanging on the trio of panicking teenagers. "I can smell your fear over the stink of the rest of these people," he tells them in an unnervingly calm, quiet tone. "Run away... If you make a fun chase, maybe I won't carve the backs of your heads up like jack-o-lanterns." He advances on them steadily.

It's certainly a good thing Action Walter springs to Action, because Alice is very much useless at the point. She whimpers piteously to Creed's unnervingly calm threats, the Lists in her mind running faster and faster in a dizzying array of possibilities, devising all sorts of increasingly ridiculous sets of What If? scenarios (all of which are pretty grusome -- an optimist Alice ain't). The constant, panicked churning leaves her pretty much paralyzed with calculation and indecision, but at least she doesn't offer any resistence to Walter when he scoops her up and begins to turn tail and run. Running is something she is good at once the muscles begin moving. Oh, hey, look! An Employe's Only area! That will surely have help, right? What could _possibly_ go wrong?

Cess quakes a little, almost losing control of herself for a moment, fingers rippling oddly for a moment. However, her senses kick back in and she turns quickly on her heel. Creed's words get lost in a torrent of panicked throughts that rush through her head, the girl quickly reaching out to grab hold of Walter. Those silver-coated eyes staring out across the mall at the employee area, her mind suddenly dead set on making it through those doors. She clings onto Walter for dear life, feet still squelching as she makes her run for it.

Walter turns tail to run, glancing at Cessily. He's moving fast, likely too fast for the girl to keep up, Alice's weight not seeming to slow his retreat down in the least as each step propels him a few feet toward the Employee's Only entrance, the first escape to catch his eye, for some reason. "Cess, piggyback!" he says urgently.

Sabretooth chases them. People are sure to notice the sudden burst of movement from the towering mutant running after them. He is far faster than someone of his stature should be. However, he does not catch up. He remains three steps behind, corraling them steadily toward that very door. This is not the berserk attack of some giant predator. This is something calculated and intentional. He drives them through the door, only to pull up short before going through it himself.

People should notice, they really should! But all they really see are a set of rambunctious teenagers goofing off. Tsk. Once the kids are through the door, Emma inserts herself smoothly in the menacing predator's path. She says nothing to him, though her eyes gleam with malicious glee. She smiles at him, and turns her back, waiting five breathes to allow the kids time enough to get deep into the back corridors of the sprawling mall.

Alice just hangs on to Walter for dear life. She's not much other use, really, shutting her eyes and breathing rapidly amid her panic attack. Her mind still races and races with ever more improbable scenarios -- hey, look! There's one with Creed being an escaped Nazi who timetraveled to the future to Save Hitler's Brain and he needs the sweet, sweet chemicals of teenagers to accomplish the goal!

"Shiiiii" Cessily squeeks as Walter moves so fast, at his instructions, she does as she is told. Her hood flies backwards and off her head as she leaps onto the boys back. Silver arms cross over in front of his neck as she clings on for dear life. Behind her, the long red ponytail whips and ripples in the wind and behind that, the menacing figure draws ever closer. Once the door is opened and slipped through, she looks over her shoulder, eyes still wide like a deer in the headlights. Creed isn't so close now, things are definitely going to be okay! Her internal reassurance does little to loosen her grip on Walter, though. The silver teen very eager to get far away from here.

Walter isn't taking the time to look back, moving as fast as he can, getting quite a good distance down the hall in those five breathes, skidding to a stop as he hits a corner to look back the way they came, sweating.

Emma surges forward, through the door, telepathy unwinding and expanding like a marshmallow in a microwave. Without the mess. Alice's internal litany of possibilities is a homing signal to the darkly rolling shadows of her powers, and she turns toward them. The little alley they have come to a rest in is cold and dark, the feeble safety lights casting more shadows than light. Emma's rubber soled shoes squeak against the concrete, warning them of her approach a second before she turns the corner. In jeans and an over-sized sweater, blonde hair pulled back into a low sweater, she /must/ be a more welcome sight than Creed's shaggy mane.

Alice squeezes her eyes shut and cringes into a ball in Walter's arms hearing the approach of the rubber shoes... hey, wait. Did Creed have rubber shoes? Could he even -fit- in them? Alice creaks open one eye and peers at the unassuming -- if devistatingly beautiful -- blonde. The Lists in her mind come to a sudden stop then desperately try to process this new information. Creed turned into an attractive woman? No, that doesn't make sense. Maybe she saw Sabertooth and moved to help...? But would she really be able to scare someone like him away...? As she tries to suss out what could've possibly happened, Alice raises a hand and wiggles her fingers in greeting. "Um... h-hello?" And, oh hey! She's clinging to Walter like a three-toed sloth! Alice's face bursts forth in a red bloom and she clears her throat, muttering to him, "Um, y-you can let me down n-now."

Those metal arms still cling tightly around Walter's neck as she watches the woman enter the hallway, eyes narrowing slightly as she watches her. It might be a trick, of course, she ponders, her hands slowly unwrapping from around her Walter-mount. When Alice speaks, she unhooks her legs from Walter, choosing to stand behind him instead. Confidence doesn't seem to fill Cessily as much as it does Alice, the mirrored girl just reflecting Emma's advance right back at her, a nervous expression distorting the image.

Walter looks down at Alice, blushing back, setting her down, his shopping bag swaying at his wrist, hitting him in the head as he reaches back to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck. "Sorry." He looks to Emma. "We're sorry if we're trespassing in your store, ma'am. Mutant terrorist." He's bizarrely casual about the mutant terrorist comment, the tone about what you'd expect from someone explaining that their tire went flat. Also, he seems to be under the impression that Emma's an employee. Hazel eyes dart around, searching for the larger, less attractive blonde.

Emma finds this amusing. She faces them down the length of hallway and folds her arms in front of her chest, rocking back on a heel and settling into a pose that reeks of bemused arrogance. "Isn't that what /you/ are?" she replies, arching a brow and shifting her glance between the three. Three people. Not impossible, but she'll have a headache after this is over. A warm breath dissipates her reservations and gathers up the reigns of her power, taking control. A flick of the metaphorical wrists, and her power, already stretched and grasping, closes the distance to enter their thoughts. Satisfaction and unholy glee turn her icy telepathic fingerprints into obsidian and sink. Sensation flares through their minds, feeling like an army of ants let loose inside their skulls.

Alice brushes herself down with as much dignity as she can muster after having basically becoming an infantile ball of panic. She blinks at the Emma, her lips curling into a faint frown. "Wha...? We're n-not terrorists!" she says defensively. Then there's that telepathic tendril, the Lists in Alice's mind again beginning to run wild, trying to categorize the unfamiliar sensation. "Ugh," Alice says, looking a bit ill and placing her palm against her forehead, her body swaying from side to side drunkenly, "I... I t-think my blood sugar is g-going a bit low. That c-chase was really stressful..."

Cessily remains behind Walter, just watching the woman curiously. Her hands dip quickly into her pockets and she too goes on the defensive, nodding at Alice. "Yeah, that big guy out there is the terrorist! We're just kids!" She announces, trying to look as brave as possible while still hiding behind the boy. The sudden sensation causes her to twitch slightly, reaching up to rub at her temple, turning her head to and fro to try and shake it. "Whoah." She sighs, closing her eyes for a moment.

Walter reaches out, steadying Alice gently as he makes a face like one might expect from someone with a bad headache, or whose ears just started ringing for no real reason they can explain. "No, just the regular kind of mutants. We even paid for all of this stuff," he says, gesturing with the bag.

The ants march on, crawling over thoughts, shifting debris, monitoring responses. It is a tricky business, managing the datastream from three teenaged sources. Fears, attitudes, prejudices, concern--they flare brightly against the mind's eye. "Aren't all mutant's terrorists? Brainwashed, idealistic little Xavierites." Alice's jumble up in a exponentially increasing array of worries and possibilities as her Lists multiply. Emma suddenly looks pained and reaches out for a wall for support. Telepathy flashes out at the source of the cacophony, a searing white flash of control that shrivels her fears and leaves her emotionally barren. The other two can't help but catch the nimbus of the blast, burning away just the edge to their emotions.

"N... not all mutants, no," Alice murmurs woozily, still holding her head, "W-we're not b-brainwashed." Yet. The green haired girl watches Emma reach out for the wall for support, her eyes widening. "Um... are you all--" but Alice never gets to finish the sentence before the telepathic flash freeze washes over her mind. The lists frost over, some even encased entirely in perfect little crystaline lattices of ice, frozen to inaction. Alice gasps, her own knees buckling and she, too, leans against the wall for support... but only for a moment. When that moment passes, Alice straightens up and looks around cooly with dead, emotionless eyes. Her face is an even, unchanging mask of neutrality and her movements have lost all the twitchy, nervous energy they once had. Instead, she moves with precision, purpose, every itoa of motion a carefully choreographed monument to efficency. "How intriguing," she says flatly, voice deviod of any hint of her normal stutter, just a wide expanse of cool detachment.

With fingers pressed firmly against her temple, Cessily manages a nod to Alice before that sudden blast of energy passes through the girl in front of her. "Wha?" She says, rather distantly as she feels that wave pass through her. Alice's sudden change in posture and the way she speaks without her stutter has her looking rather distraught, her eyes flicking from her friend to the strange blonde woman. "Alice?" She asks, worry forming over that brow. "Are you okay?" She is practically whispering at this point, still rather distant.

"Xavier--" and then the flash hits, Walter blinking lightly in confusion. "No, not all mutants are terrorists," he says. "Pretty small minority actually, the douches just get the most airtime." He looks over at Alice as she looses her stutter, looking rather concerned, grasping her shoulder. "You okay?" he wonders, not quite so quiet about it as Cessily.

With more than a third of the emotional avalanche diverted, Emma regains her equilibrium and straightens slowly, turning her palm up to look at the dirt speck left on it's surface. She wrinkles her nose and brushes the grit loose with her other hand before returning her attention to the trio. Alice's frozen landscape is noted with some small satisfaction. That little trick is getting to be almost familiar. How nice. "Yes, isn't it, child," she murmurs, looking back at the other two with an expression of hardly concealed, though oddly remote disgust. "She's fine, darlings. You, however,..." she sighs as if with regret.

Those dead, cold, empty grey eyes swivel to regard Walter and Cessily with a calculating and level gaze. Her lips curl slowly up into a smile and she nods once, "Yes. I'm fine." Though no warmth touches that smile, no nervousness, nothing. It is merely a perfunctory gesture, a social requirement and an almost robotic movement of musclature. Just a calculated display with no emotional attachment. As such, the smile quickly fades, leaving Alice's face once more that blank, expressionless mask. She folds her hands primly in front of her, but otherwise remains silent, watching the proceedings with that cool, controlled, detachment in her demeanor.

Pupilless eyes narrow as Cessily locks eyes with Alice's rather dead ones. She winces slightly and shakes her head, a hand reaching past Walter to gently stroke across the girl's shoulder, before fingers tighten and she gently shakes the girl. "Are you sure?" She asks, knowing full well that this is not the Alice she came to the mall with. Her head tilts up towards Emma, eyebrows lowering angrily. "What'd you do to her?!" She suddenly shouts, still standing behind Walter, despite her barking.

Walter looks at Alice, and then one plus one equals two, and he turns to Emma. His emotion may have lost some edge, but he's still a rather emotive fellow. "What did you do to her?" he demands, in unison with Cessily.

"If I were you, I would be more concerned about what I'm-- Oh, I see." A slow smirk spreads across Emma's lips, then she tsks and shakes her head. "I adore little boys who think they're all grown up," she purrs and slinks forward a step. "Are you /really/ going to try defend your little girlfriend?" Emma's telepathy dips past his thoughts, following trails and ties down into the blushing emotional base. "/Both/ crushes? Oh, /dear/. That does make this fun."

"Please don't shake me," Alice intones flatly to Cessily, staring back at her pupilless eyes with her soulless ones, "It's an inefficent use of energy." Another mechanical, perfunctory smile is affected by the green haired teen, "And, yes. I'm fine. I... am better than I've ever been." The smile fades away again and Alice contents herself with watching the continuing confrontation blankly. She doesn't even react at Emma's curious little relevation about Walter's crushing. She just stands there like a statue.

That shiny palm quickly releases Alice's shoulder as she protests in such a zombie-like way. She frowns and just watches the girl's stiff and calculated movements, before her attention is pulled towards Walter and Emma's confrontation. Her eyebrows raise as she listens in to the conversation, glancing from Alice, to Emma to Walter and shaking her head, quickly lowering it to stare down at the floor. "Oh man.." She sighs, rather overwhelmed.

Walter's blushing now as Emma makes that little announcement. He tries to block her out, but it's a little bit like putting a wall of lincoln logs in front of an incoming tidal wave. "What do you want?" he asks. "Why us?"

Emma tilts her head and purses her lips thoughtfully, then takes another step closer and holds out a hand in a dismissive gesture. "I want nothing. I just I feel like it. Haven't you /ever/ done anything because you feel like it?" Her glance slides sideways to Cessily, for the first time taking an interest in the unusually colored girl. "You know you feel like kissing her. Why don't you?" She turns Walter toward the animatronic Alice, and takes another step closer. "Or maybe you are more interested in the exotic?" He turns back toward Cessily. "Or maybe..." Suddenly, Emma is in front of him, leaning closer, eyes widening with twisted enjoyment. She presses a fingertip to the underside of his chin, digging in to hook the bone and pull him close. Her nose twitches.

Again, Alice doesn't react to the relevations being delivered. She just stares blankly, taking in the information as its offered, but not offering anything herself. It's all now a curious little intellectual exercise for her, of no true meaning beyond a bit of intrigue regarding how her compatriots will react. The only indication that she's even listening is the movement of her eyes which slide evenly back and forth along the actors in this little play as they are addressed. Otherwise, she could be asleep or even paralyzed for how much movement she shows.

If blood flowed through Cessily's skin still, she would be definitely blushing right now. Her head is low at Walter and Emma's exchange, her embarassment rather obvious despite the lack of red flush. She can hardly watch, keeping her eyes on Alice to observe her strange behaviour. Curiousity still reigns supreme, though, her eyes darting back at Walter and Emma, biting her lip slightly.

Walter's blushing enough for the three of them at this point, first over at Alice, then at Cessily, now he's trying to pull away from Emma, piling up those Lincoln Logs fast as his little flatscan brain can manage. As a last ditch effort to get her to stop, he says, "Aren't you too old for this?"

Emma snorts and narrows her eyes at the brave little Xavierite. /Stupid/ little Xavierite. Her reply has none of a woman's wounded vanity in it though. Just something cold and patient and hungry. "You have no idea how old I am, little puppet." Telepathy twists in the wide open and bleached brain of Alice, summoning her to reach forward to grab Walter's arms from behind. Emma releases his chin and turns her head, and her attention, on the silver-skinned Xavier pet. Red hair. Of course. "Shall I show you what I did to her?"

Like any good little automaton, Alice immediately moves into action. As steady as a metronome, Alice steps towards the boy with even, measured movements. The blank, empty mask that was once Alice's face doesn't twitch or quiver in the slightest as she reaches and grabs for Walter's arms, trying to pull them to the small of his back and lock them there. "I'm sorry," she says tonelessly to Walter as she makes her attempt, the only concession there is in the otherwise obedient little telepathic puppet.

Cess visibly flinches at the words that so badly flow from Walter's lips. You -never- say that. She shifts gently aside as Alice shifts so stiffly to grab hold of him, looking suddenly very nervous. That nervous expression only intensifies when she lifts her head to stare up into Emma's eyes, a frown reshaping those silver lips. "I don't want to be a robot.." Is all she manages to utter, lip quivering slightly. "Who are you?.. why're you doing this?"

Walter looks back at Alice as she grabs his arms. On one hand, he could easily break her hold. On the other, he'd hurt her in the process. Evil blonde! Evil! He watches the exchange between Emma and Cessily. "Look, just leave us alone, you made whatever point it was you wanted to make, so, please, just go."

Cess is a good girl. Have a biscuit. Emma lifts a brow and smiles with ghostly cheer. She mimics her early movement with Walter, except instead of holding her chin, Emma slides the fingertip down the little redhaired drone's silver cheek. Another redhead's face floats past her mind's eye. Emma turns her finger toward her, as if expecting to see a film of silver there. "I told you. I feel like it. Can you know what it is like to be caught in between, never having form or substance?" Emma's eyes flash and she reaches into Cessily's mind, sifting through her memories for knowledge of her powers with ruthless efficiency. The attack takes the girl's breath and balance. "I haven't made my point yet, brat." Another almost effortless twist of the fingers sunk into Alice's brain pulls her face forward, over Walter's shoulder.

Yeah, Walter could probably fairly easily break free of Alice's grip, but she still has his arms held quite tightly. She, it seems, is not nearly as concerned with his comfort or safety as he is with hers. At the psychic command, Alice lurches forward, pressing herself tightly up against her semi-captive and presses her lips to his cheek in a kiss, soft lips brushing against his skin. There's no passion or emotion attached to the embrace, of course, it's merely an order carried out with ruthless efficency. A strange dichonomy of dispassion in an intimate physical expression.

Cessily's head slowly lowers as that finger trails over her smooth cheek, the girl's attention focusing strongly on the floor as her mind is pillaged. Her shoulders slump slightly, those words bringing troubling memories to the surface of her mind. She teeters forwards, a hand reaching up quickly, inadvertently grabbing the sleeve of Emma. Her head shakes from side to side, trying to gain her balance as she quickly releases the woman's sleeve, her eyes drowsily meeting hers. "Please don't do anything to me.." She begs, wide eyes staring up at her.

Walter blushes at the kiss, pulling away angrily, his eyes narrow at Emma. "And what's your point?" he asks. "You've already taken away Alice's personality. What now?"

"Blame your little boyfriend." Emma crashes against Cessily's senses, flooding them with a dizzying collage of disjointedness that pulls the molecules of her senses apart. And where the mind goes, so goes the body, yes?

As Walter pulls away, Alice keeps her head by his shoulder, her grip on his arms remaining as tight as ever. Her eyes shift to regard Cessily and Emma's exchange coolly, watching silently as she continues her dutiful restrainment. Such a good little evil minion she is! The career test never has bubbles for that sort of thing.

Silver eyes widen further at the sudden onslaught of sensation that rampages through Cessily's body. Her jaw hangs open as she feels her mind lose its grasp on her form. Their effect not only rampages internally, her arms slowly losing fingers and joints as they pool onto the floor. Cess seems to flop forward, slamming into the ground as a shimmering silver pool, clothing gently floating atop it. Her thoughts pulse through her faster and faster, panic racing through her mind as she desperately tries to reform, the surface of that silver pool stirring and rippling oddly.

Walter watches Cessily melt, shooting Emma another angry look. He pulls forward all at once, attempting to break Alice's hold on him.

Emma lowers herself slowly by that pool. She folds her arms on her knees and just watches it for a moment before looking up at Walter. "Do you /really/ want to know?" She closes her eyes and exhales with a frown that reveals fatigue and pain for an instant. And then Walter breaks free. As quick as thought, Emma takes a hold of the puddle's senses, gathering them into one fixed image of a sword--weight, sight, metallic sound and smell-- they coalesce in her thoughts, driving her upward.

It doesn't take much. While Alice certainly is attempting to hold Walter back with all her strength... she's actually pretty weenie. Especially in the upper-body department. So he breaks her hold rather easily, the green haired girl stumbling backwards and flailing her gawky limbs as she tries to retain her balance. She fails and spills down onto the hallway floor. Throughout all the freaky wild dance, though, that mask of perfect neutrality remains on her features. She doesn't even grunt as she smacks into the floor, merely pausing briefly before picking herself back up and immediately reaching out to reassert control over Hulk Walter (though, she is a few steps behind him now).

The pool of Cessily ripples and tremors on the ground. The silver girl's brain being tweaked and pulled, her internal body image shaping into that sharp, pointy mass. Indeed, from the center of the pool, a point appears. The point rises out of the pool, a large, blunt mass of metal. Its barely sharp enough to cut the breeze, if it wasn't for the crude hilt, you'd assume it to be a large pointy stick. Cessily is very inexperienced in changing her shape. Even moreso when her mind is burning with panic.
Walter dives out, it's a gambit, but hopefully it'll pay out. His hand shoots out for the hilt of the... slightly sharpened stick before Emma can get a hand on it.

Emma isn't moving for the hilt. Why should she when it is Cessily's own momentum that carries the sword point forward? She does rise, however, holding her hand out to Alice as she steps back from the pool of panicked rage that is aimed squarely at Walter.

Immediately ceasing her persuit of a cheesed off Walter at getting the High Sign from Emma, Alice changes direction and walks over to her side, just slightly behind the telepaht. Expressionless face watches the scene dispassionately as she folds her hands in front of her primly, the fingers lacing together tightly.

The sword that was once Cessily, lunges forward, the sudden change of momentum causing that shapeless mass to gain a slight point. The silver liquid streamlining as it moves, the slightly sharpened tip lurching for Walter's stomach. Its not quite enough to impale the boy, but will certainly leave a cut. If he runs into it, anyway.

Walter stops, sucking his stomach in to avoid the tip. He takes a couple steps back and just stands there, looking at what the woman's done to his friends, looking really angry, but mostly at a loss for how to help.

Emma pours more rage into the pliable mind of Cessily, sweeping away many of the inhibitions that have kept her from exploring the options herself. Spikes protrude, undulating long and dangerous along the girl's swiftly changing form. And then she turns her back, leaving her to deal with the boy. "Child," she says, attracting Alice's attention. "Do you like the fear?"

Alice watches the battle coolly between Walter and the sword before she's addressed by Emma. Her eyes shift towards the woman before her body follows suit, turning to regard the telepath fully. "To what fear do you refer?" she asks tonelessly, "Although, I suppose the answer is the same in any case. I have no opinions on it what-so-ever. It doesn't bother me." A beat. "Nothing bothers me anymore." One of those soulless perfunctory smiles tugs at the corners of her lips, warping the mask of neutrality.

A vaguely humanoid shape begins to emerge from Cessily, though far pointier than before. Vicious spines and spikes protrude, her hands replaced by thing points. She is still not entirely under her own control, limbs swinging wildly at Walter, her body a mass of rapidly reshaping spikes, her form unable to keep from spiking up like that. Cess's mind a swirling mess of rage and panic, unable to properly focus her mind.

Walter dodges Cessily's spikes and spines doing a pretty good job. That is until he steps on the girl's shirt, it slipping along the floor, sending him off balanced. Right into one of the concrete walls with a loud crack, eyes rolling back into his head as he collapses to the floor.

"Do you want to fear?" Emma pulls her telepathy back from Alice's mind, and the emotions that had been cleared press against her control, like shadows and spectres.

Emotions come flooding back in as the frost and ice melts on the Lists in Alice's mind. She gasps and stumbles to the side, overwhelmed by the sudden outpouring of feeling. It's all there: anger, confusion, resentment, and yes... fear. But there's also something else, too. A cloying sense of desire and want, a desperate need to feel that icy touch making everyting calm and crystalized again. She hates herself for it, feels betrayed by her own mind, but it's there, unmistakable, a lingering mental scent. Alice cries out and collapses to the floor, trembling in fear and rage. "N-n-no!" she calls out, eyes wide, reaching out pleadingly to Emma, "D-don't...! Give it back! P-p-please, give it back!" Tears well up in her eyes and leak from the sides as she peers up with the wide, desperate eyes of a junkie to the White Queen. Just one taste and you're hooked...

Sharpening silver blades lash out further towards Walter as he stumbles and falls. The spikes grow and shrink for a moment longer, before the pool around Cessily's mishapen form starts to fill in. The silver girl appearing naked, curled up on the floor. Spikes protrude all across her body, fingers still large blades as she hugs at herself, arms wrapped around her legs. Her long red strands of hair creep down over her shoulders as they reform, the mirrored shapeshifter whimpering quietly.

Walter sits on the floor, head swimming from the impact. He touches where his head impacted, his fingers coming back red, only peripherally aware of the torment of his friends at the moment.

Emma just watches the girl at her feet with cold, disinterested eyes. << Of course. If you want it, >> she purrs darkly. << If you want it bad enough. >> What she can do to prove her desire is left unsaid, and the White Queen pivots away from the withdrawing Alice. She looks across the carnage she'd wrought, and cruel satisfaction carves itself into her face. "Tell your headmistress that she should start jumping at shadows," Emma drawls before stepping across Alice's body and striding for the end of the hallway, and the exit. Her squeaking shoes echo and fade.
Um. Scrambled puddin's.