Psylocke: Mind Over Matter Part 2

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Thanks to Marvel Comics for all of their wonderful characters. Psylocke, Juggernaut, Courier, Nitro are all their characters.

Chapter 2

Garrison looked at me with something in his eyes bordering on fear. Fortunately, I didn’t have to rely on the look in his eyes. The man was scared about what happened, and the potential of having a human bomb walking about.

“Do you mean to tell me that this man survived a blast equivalent to ten thousand pounds of TNT, at the point of explosion?”

“I think he caused the explosion, boss. It wasn’t intentional, from what I got from him, but the nanites from the explosives have destabilized his molecular structure, enabling him to explode at will, and then reform his body.”

Courier was shocked “Son of a bitch, Garrison. This guy’s our worst nightmare. A suicide bomber who can explode over and over again. None of our facilities will be safe”

“I know the ramifications, Courier. Psylocke, can you track him?”

“It’s difficult, but I can at least keep tabs on his mental state. I don’t think he has reformed his body. That’s why I can’t get a fix on his location”

“Keep working on it. We’ve got to get this nutball shut down, and quick. Stay here while I get the Secretary on line. I may need you to explain”

I was twirling my hair absentmindedly while listening to him and gave a sarcastic laugh. “Like he’s going to listen to a purple haired weirdo like me. Can’t you just tell him that you have some good intelligence or something like that?”

He dismissed the thought. “Just be ready to explain”

The Secretary of Homeland Security came online on the secure videoconferencing channel. Special Agent Garrison began the briefing. Garrison turned it over to me, and, like the 18 year old I was, I stuttered and stammered and generally made an ass of myself.

The Secretary rolled his eyes and addressed Garrison. “Please tell me that you have more to go on than the word of this girl”

I shot a look at Garrison and gave him my best “SEE?” face.

“Sir, however Psylocke's briefing was delivered, I believe her assessment is correct. We have a serious threat to national security here. Psylocke will attempt to keep tabs on him, and we will mobilize the necessary assets to deal with the situation”

“Do we have J1 available?”

“Not at present. He can be a bit…recalcitrant at times. I’ll see what I can do, but there are no guarantees”

The Secretary leaned forward. “You get him online and available or bring him in. That’s an order, Garrison”

I knew who J1 was. Cain. I laughed out loud at the prospect of anyone bringing him in against his will.

The Secretary glared into the screen. “Something to add, Agent Braddock?”

I opened my mouth to give the Secretary a piece of my mind, but Garrison intervened. “No sir, she doesn’t”

“Very well, Garrison. Keep me informed”

“Yes sir.” The screen went to a test pattern.

Garrison glared at me. “Do you have any idea who that was?”

“Yes, I do. A pompous ass that insults me and expects me to like it. I could have him playing with dolls in two seconds, and he’s mouthing off! And really. Who’s going to drag Cain in if he doesn’t want to come in? I’ll tell you. No one, that’s who! Not even that big ass woman from Chicago”

Courier interjected a thought “He likes you, Psylocke”

“And I want to keep it that way. I’m not going to bother him unnecessarily.” I then turned to her. “And he doesn’t like me like ‘that’, Courier. He saved my life taking out that big ugly ape that Shadow King sent I owe him”

Garrison pounded his desk. “Enough! Psylocke, contact him now!”

“Oh, screw you, Garrison. I’ve had just about enough of being treated like a second class citizen around here. I was promised an education, and all you’ve done since I got this ability is work me to death. I missed my senior prom, Homecoming, Christmas with Tracy’s family, MY FAMILY!” I was beginning to get loud now. The stress of the day was causing me to melt down, and that was bad for everyone in that room.

The staff members working in the Center were starting to stop what they were doing and looking toward the supervisor’s office. I didn’t care.

“Agent Braddock, you will get yourself under control NOW!”

That did it. “I’ll show you control, SIR!” I proceeded to shut down everyone’s mind in the trailer, with the exception of Courier. The activity went to zero. I looked at Courier, who I still considered a friend.

“Jackie, you had better get that big jerk under control, or I swear to God, I’ll wreck him” I walked to the exit of the Command Center, and then turned to her. “I’ll TRY to contact Cain, but no promises. I’ll also tell him about what that arrogant ass of a Secretary said. I promise you. If I say the word, Hunter will be the least of your worries. I love Cain like a brother, and don’t get in the way of that.”

I started to break down. “I have had the worst day of my life after the death of my parents. I’ve seen crap today that no one my age should have to see, and GI Joe up there expects me to go on like nothing’s happened. I’m going home, and don’t bother me until tomorrow. And it had better be only you that comes to see me. Everyone should wake up in about five minutes”

I went to the nice Agent who helped me. I was crying now. “Can you drive me home please?”

“Sure, Psylocke. Are they done with you?”

“I’m done with them. Let’s go” A subtle mental push ensured no more conversation.

I picked up my cell and dialed the number that Cain gave me. If I dialed that number he knew it was me.

His gruff voice was a welcome sound. “Hey kid. What’s up?”

I couldn’t hold back the emotion. “Can we talk? In person? I’m sorry to bother you, but something terrible has happened, and I might need your help”

Cain was in Canada, at a cabin he built. No one but me knew he was there. I related the events of the day and he listened intently. I told him about what the Secretary said, and he burst out laughing.

“I’ll be down tomorrow, kid. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll even buy you and Tracy dinner”

That brought a smile to my face. “I really am sorry to bother you, Cain. I know how you like to be left alone”

“Don’t worry about it. See ya”

I disconnected, feeling much better. Agent Grant was locked in to driving, so he didn’t hear my conversation. I saw to that.

An hour later, I was walking in to our apartment. I noticed I had picked up a couple of observers, courtesy, no doubt, of Garrison. I focused on them and they drove off. Garrison was pissing me off.

I dialed Courier and she picked up on the first ring.

“Jackie? I just sent two of Garrison’s boys on their way. The next ones get sent away with instructions to kick his ass. I’m serious. Leave me the fuck alone!” I disconnected.

Tracy was inside watching the news reports. It was the only thing on any of the news channels. All of the local channels were on the explosion.

Tracy paused the DVR and ran up to me, giving me a big hug. She was crying, which started me all over again.

“I just can’t believe it, Betsy. I knew people in that area.”

“I know, Trace. Just be glad you weren’t there. It was…terrible”

“You had to go there? Why?”

I looked at her like she was nuts. “My job, Trace. Some nut job set the explosion. It wasn’t a terror attack, though”

I had to get a shower, to get rid of the dust of that terrible place. I also needed Tracy to come with me, but I didn’t want to disturb her. “I’m taking a shower, hon” I said “I’ll be back in five”

I went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. I cried for the people who wouldn’t be coming home. For the babies who lost their parents. For the parents who lost their babies. I got mad all over again at the bureaucrats who couldn’t get past the fact that I was hurting. So what if I had a job to do. I AM AN EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL! I haven’t been in sixteen wars and a hundred years of government intrigue. I am a self absorbed little girl. Deal with it. I need time to process this stuff. I don’t care if I was the most powerful person on earth.

I stripped and got into the shower. I let the water run over me. My tears got lost in the water.

I heard the bathroom door close. The shower door opened and Tracy got in with me.

“It’s okay to cry, Betsy. I’ve been doing it all day.”

I needed her right then. Wrapping my arms around her and feeling her slick skin, I kissed her passionately. She returned the kiss. Feeling weak in the knees, I sat on the shaving ledge in the shower. Tracy knelt in front of me, probing my mouth with her tongue. I returned her kisses as hard as I could. My fire was lit, and she knew just what to do. We made love for the next three hours.

We lay in bed, basking in the afterglow of our passion. I was exhausted, as was she.

I turned to her, leaning on one elbow, running my fingers through her hair. “Thank you, Tracy. I really needed that. I needed to know that there was still something good in this life”

Turning on her side to face me she smiled and spoke. “You’re not the only one who can read minds, you know”

Leaning forward, I gave her a light kiss on the lips. “What would I do without you?”

“Go crazy, I guess” She then gave me a little pinch on my right nipple. I squealed and gave her a toe curler. She had that glazed look in her eyes when I stopped.

I rolled over to get off the bed “Let me make us something to eat”

Tracy grabbed my arm and pulled me back as I squealed with laughter again. “Oh no you don’t missy. I’ve got something for you to eat”

“Ewww, gross! That’s not romantic at all, you unladylike beast!”

“Whatever, wench…..”

My phone was off the entire night. The apartment phone was off the hook. I didn’t miss it, and wouldn’t have answered it had it rung. I was off the case until someone apologized. Maybe I’m selfish, but I was done with being the junior g-man on the team. Especially one who solved ninety eight percent of the cases we were assigned.

At around six thirty AM, I picked up my phone and turned it back on. There were several messages from Garrison, and one from a blocked number. I had to listen to these messages.

“Psylocke! How dare you use that mind crap on me…” Delete.

“You had better answer this phone. We….” Delete.

“Ok, I may have been a little harsh, but you have to under…” Delete. This was fun!

“Okay, Betsy, You’ve made your point. Come on back in and…” Delete.

“Take the rest of the night, think about things, and get back to me in the morning. We need you on the team.” Delete. That’s better.

“This is Secretary Smith. You are in violation of…” Delete, block number. Tee hee! He doesn’t need to talk to me anyway.

I dialed Courier’s number.

“Hello? Betsy?”

“Hi, Jackie. Your goons can pick me up in one hour.”

“Okay, Psylocke. They are on their way.”

I took my shower and cleaned up. I did my hair, which had taken on more purple highlights in the last year. Looking in the mirror as a put on my makeup, I looked for some signs of Brian, of the Braddock family. There was nothing. I looked like a healthy mix of Caucasian and Asian. I loved my new face, it just seemed exotic. I dressed for action in my preferred uniform, a black leather bustier and leather pants with spandex panels in the thighs for flexibility. I sheathed my katana and placed it in the black bag that carried all of my weapons. I was fully proficient in firearms, but I didn’t carry them. They made too much noise, and I was a stealth weapon.

It was funny. When I put on my uniform, it was like a switch flipped. I was no one to be messed with, and my team knew it. It wouldn’t have mattered yesterday, but now I was pissed. It was a cloudy day, and I decide to mess with the goon squad. The pulled up into the parking garage of the complex. I shadow teleported from the apartment to the garage. The driver was looking in my direction when I came out of the shadow. I’m told it looks creepy when I come out of a shadow. All you see are two glowing eyes and then all of a sudden I come out. Cool.

As I exit the shadow, driver goon about jumps out of his skin. “Damn” He says. Ha! “little girl” my ass!

“Let’s go” was all I said as I got into the car.

They took me to the command center. Courier was there to meet me again.

“Welcome back, Psylocke. I see you’re ready to get serious”

“”Yeah,” I nodded. “But Garrison had better shut his big mouth. I’m not playing today.”

“Understood. The Secretary, however…"

“Had better keep his big yap shut too”

“Oooookaaaayyyy”

We went in to the command center and Garrison was waiting. He wanted to say something, but wisely kept his mouth shut. His thoughts, however betrayed his obvious irritation with me.

I tapped my head. “Special Agent Garrison! What is a 'stupid cunt'? Was that directed at me?”

“Never mind, and stop reading me! You said yourself it’s impolite”

“Sorry, *sir*. Juggernaut will be here today”

His mood lightened considerably. “Good work, Psylocke. I didn’t think he would come”

He came because I asked him. Otherwise, he’d still be on vacation. He doesn’t respond well to threats. Neither do I, as you know now”

“Point made, Psylocke. Have you located Hunter?”

“Yes, and he’s already changed his name. He calls himself Nitro now.” He is in Taylor now. I focused, to get a better fix on him. He was at a bank. I suddenly realized what he was doing. “Shit!” was all I could say before he detonated. Then things went black.

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Comments

Thank you!

To enemyoffun and mittfh for helping me with the illustration!

cindi3.jpg

Peace!
Cindilee

Peace!
Cindilee

The Picture

Enemyoffun's picture

It looks good and works real well for the story...I'm glad the two of us could help :)

EOF

she needs to be careful...

A psychic that can't be controlled is intolerable. Especially when she's so eager to prove that she can't be controlled, and makes the kind of threats she does. About the Secretary, no less.

The safest thing for Garrison to do would be to put a bullet in her head while she's unconscious. For all he knows, she could snap and be a bigger danger than Juggernaut OR Nitro.

Anyway, I'm enjoying the story! Just overthinking, a bit :)

Keep thinking

Seeing what people think of the story is wonderful!

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Peace!
Cindilee

Peace!
Cindilee

Empathy

OK, so she's abusing her talents a little, but let's look at the flip side.

She's an 18 year old girl, albeit one with a unique talent, who (shock!) enjoys school and wants to lead a relatively normal life.
However, the idiots in government just view her as a resource to be used whenever they're stumped (which, apparently, is quite often). They don't appear to have a shred of empathy for her or the side-effects of her talent (tuning in to all the dead and dying) - which makes attending the scene of the crime magnitudes worse than anyone else. Then, as she said, they expect her to just go full out towards helping them find and capture Nitro, without realising for a second the trauma she's been through or the fact she isn't a battle-hardened soldier with 35 years experience of large scale death and destruction. She's regularly pulled out of school to help them, and has apparently missed pretty much every social occasion from the past few months. You can probably bet that they haven't even considered setting her up with appointments with a counsellor.

I can't help but feel they're relying far too much on her and pretty much exploiting her (You will attend the scene of crime. You will get hold of Cain. We will keep you under surveillance.) It seems about the only thing keeping her sane and preventing her freaking out is her regular "bedroom aerobics" with Tracey.

As for Misty's suggestion of just shooting her, they won't. They've put all their eggs into one basket and are relying on her as pretty much their sole means of crime solving. Her suggestion of 98% of cases cleared up due to her may be an exaggeration, but it still implies she helps them clear up an awful lot of cases. Nitro is a useful case in point - no-one knows if he still looks the same or if he's changed appearance since the initial explosion, and since he can explode himself at will, anyone who gets close enough to observe him closely won't survive to pass on their description. The only thing he can't change is his mind 'signature', which is what Betsy locks onto.

 

Bike Resources

There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...

As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

you're right.

And there's the little matter of a ten foot tall, 1500 pound human tank who would probably be a bit resentful if she sprouted 9mm brain jewelry!

cindi3.jpg

Peace!
Cindilee

Peace!
Cindilee

The Problem is

If Garrison ever thinks that, he will either end up playing with dolls for the next 40 years, or if Betsy is really smart, forget everything about her and she goes on with her life.

Problem with agencies

Is that the removal of field agents means squat. The recordings, the people in charge, the affliates - all have to be taken care of to get rid of them busybodies. Aand it's not even guaranteed to work.

There are exactly three vastly different areas of expertise that have to be covered, and Betsy only has two of them - the minds, and the physical threats. The technologies are still unaccounted for the potential get-rid-of-those-asses-who-think-they-are-in-charge covert operation.

Faraway


On rights of free advertisement:
Big Closet Top Shelf

Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!

Faraway


On rights of free advertisement:
Big Closet Top Shelf

Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!

Self-fulfilling prophecy

You cannot expect a 18 yr-old to have the resiliency of somebody older and more mature. Heck, most adults would not be able to cope with such a scene. Yet they keep on shoving her around, forcing her to attend such scenes and then attempt to bully her into doing what they want with no consideration for her feelings. At this rate she will snap, and it won't be her fault. If you try to use a screwdriver in place of a large prybar and the screwdriver breaks, do you blame the screwdriver? No, you blame the idiot that misused the screwdriver.

If anybody needs to be dealt with it is Garrison and that idiot Secretary. Garrison needs to be reassigned, maybe to the Platte, North Dakota field office. The actions of the Secretary, as he's a political appointee, need to be brought to the President's attention.

* * *

"Girls are like pianos, when they're not upright they're grand!" Benny Hill

Karen J.


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

I loved that

she put Garrison in his place.

Psylocke: Mind Over Matter Part 2

Is that Psylocke or Courier in the pic?

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Psylocke, Although with some

Psylocke,

Although with some purple hair coloring, I think that Cindilee could be her own illustrations.

No, thank you!

I won't be posing for any Psylock pics.

She doesn't wear enough clothes! :0

cindi3.jpg

Peace!
Cindilee

Peace!
Cindilee

Ahh, man.

Someone already said what I'd planned to earlier. Mainly that Betsy is still a kid no matter what her power is, and one who was basically forced to relive a trauma from her earlier life only in a way that was magnitudes worse. If Garrison and the Secretary don't cut her some slack, she might break.

Maggie

This is exactly why, if I

This is exactly why, if I were a meta in this world, I would NOT work for the government. Except maybe occasionally as an independent contractor. A PAID independent contractor. Make that WELL paid!

The government has shown over and over again that they don't care about the metas except as a resource to be exploited. Either do what you're told or be locked up (or killed?). Fortunately Psylocke is in a pretty good position to set terms when they get too demanding.

I love the way Psylocke shut them down. A bit over the top, perhaps, but considering her age, experience and everything I think it's totally understandable.

Saless 


Kittyhawk"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America


"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America

she should be careful

but, it would not hurt to let a few key people know that if something bad happened to her they might get a unfriendly visit from her friends.
good story, thanks

I think they already know.

I think Cain has her back.

cindi3.jpg

Peace!
Cindilee

Peace!
Cindilee

Sex and death

"Thank you, Tracy. I really needed that. I needed to know that there was still something good in this life”

sometimes, lovemaking can indeed remind us of the good stuff in life.

Dorothycolleen

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