Xaviers!

Haley Crusek wrote:"Annnnd, you look and smell WAY better," Haley giggled, sliding up next to Tosh, stealing the last bite of pizza from his hand with her TK and flinging it into her open mouth.

"Hey! Didn't anyone teach you to never steal food from sharks?" he chuckled.

Emilie wrote:"Well, smell anyways." Emilie teased. "How was where-ever the hell you went to then? You have to tell everyone all the heroic stories when you come back from battle you know."

"We were in Medieval Ireland. I'm not sure exactly when. As for heroic...," he said, flashing a grin, "I passed a warrior trial by fighting dinosaurs."

Colette just smiled up at the grim facade that looked down at her. Even if it was creepy, her date was still behind here, and he certainly felt warmer and softer than she imagined the cold embrace of death might feel.

Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say - "Pride will tear us both apart". Well, now, pride's gone out the window 'cross the rooftops, run away. Left me in the vacuum of my heart-"


Basil was definitely warmer than one would expect for a corpse. Moving a bit closer when he dared to, Basil was almost leaning into her now.

"What is happening to me? Crazy, some'll say. Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away."

And now he was definitely leaning on her, his feet no longer carrying the two of them anywhere. He stood motionless for several moments, and then fell to the floor like a ton of bricks, his grasp on Colette giving way as he did.

His mask made a loud cracking noise as he hit the ground in a billow of black.

Emilie wrote:"We were in Medieval Ireland. I'm not sure exactly when. As for heroic...," he said, flashing a grin, "I passed a warrior trial by fighting dinosaurs."

"Yea. I can't top that." She laughed, though the full nature of the joke would be lost on Tosh.

She gave a casual glance at Death's dropping to the ground, but didn't comment. Can't handle his giggle-water either...

"Did you take a trophy?" She asked Tosh, continuing their conversation.

Haley's wide-eyed grin of appreciation for Tosh's story was cut short by the loud crack made by Death falling. A concerned frown crossed her face. "Shit, is he okay?"

"Basil!" Chase called as he rushed to check on his friend. His first thought was Basil's blood pressure issue.

"I wish, but the bodies had to be destroyed to protect the..." Tosh answered, interrupted by the unfolding drama, "Shit. I hope so, cause I am not in fact a doctor."

Colette couldn't have supported Basil even if she had been given a chance to try. She was shocked of course, not understanding what had just occurred. Once she did clue in she managed a shriek not entirely out of place for the holiday.

"Basil! Basil! Are you alright?" She asked, kneeling beside the prone form.

Basil didn't respond to Chase or Colette's prompting, his plastic mask askew on his face.

Chase's checking on Basil would prove to him that it probably was *something* like that, at least physically. Everything was the same this time except for one major difference.

What was a fun and clever trick of the light with his skeleton costume was now ruined, thanks to the fact he was completely visible. Shading and contouring couldn't hide the fact that now he had bones painted right on the top of his skin.

His skin was just as pale as one would expect it to be, with a sallow discoloration to it, though for all they knew he just had a cool complexion like his mother.

Chase blinked. "I'm not just imagining he's visible... right?" He pulled Basil's hood back.

"I'm sure the invisible creeper will be fine." Emilie murmured to Haley. Not because she believed it but more because she didn't give a shit.

Chase throwing back his hood would prove that he was, indeed, visible. The broken mask revealed a crop of a-symmetrically cut jet black hair that was shaved in the back, cut tight on the right, and running down in curls on the left side of his somewhat ruined skull facade which was still obscuring his face.

The telepaths that were focusing on him now would notice something that they had never in his presence before. Something akin to a frequency, or a signal, but one that seemed to be perpetually stuck. Like a broken record skipping or an engine which refused to turn over.

"That's... not normal."

She frowns, making her way over towards Basil. As she walks, her form shifts back to the redhead that some of them might know.

"He's fainted before, but this is different," Chase said worriedly.

"It feels like he's in a loop."

"That's... not likely to happen on its own."

She kneels down by him.

"... but he is not a robot. How can a mind be in a loop? Will he be okay?" Colette asked, looking very concerned.

"What a shame. Basil wanted to be seen again so badly... and he doesn't even know it."

Basil still isn't moving, and does not respond to Sam getting closer to him, nor does the loop 'stop' as she does. If anything, it's stronger now, like she'd gotten closer to the skipping Victrola. But this of course may have been due to the fact she actually was.

"I don't know. There's a lot of telepaths on campus. Some of them don't have much control."

She reaches out with her mind towards Basil. Those nearby might get the briefest impression of a rustling of feathers. Haley likely gets a clearer look, treated to the image of about a half-dozen crows emerging from Sam's head.

She tries to grasp the moment Basil's trapped in, and trace the feeling to the next expected moment, hoping to find the break.

Samantha couldn't pinpoint a moment in time or memory associated with the problem in question. Rather, it was like he was trying to jump back into action, but couldn't for some reason. His hardware was still working, but his software wasn't loading properly.

"Perhaps he needs some fresh air. Zat mask must be claustrophobic and zere are not many air holes and, and..." Her voice was starting to sound a little panicky as Basil remained motionless for longer and longer. She fumbled with the mask before pulling it off over his head, pulling his hood off in the process.

It wasn't the first time she'd seen him, but he definitely looked a bit more cleaned up this time. He'd cut his his hair in a popular cut for 'fancier lads' with curly hair, and was clean shaven which was something of a plus.

He'd definitely made an attempt to be the 'prettiest prince' like he'd told Trev he would be, but a fat lot of good it did him now.

Basil still didn't respond once his mask was off, but now they could see he was having a minor physical reaction. Every time Sam felt the 'reset' start his eyelids would flutter, revealing his blue eyes for just a moment before shutting them again.

"Just stop... distracting me, please."

She tries to feel for if there's something interrupting the impulse at the moment where it loops.

The issue isn't so much an interruption as it seems to be a broken mechanism in play. Something that in normal circumstances should be happening, but isn't.

Unfortunately the further Sam tries to investigate what is off, she is greeted by the mental image of a large stone wall, blocking her access to go in deeper.In the middle of the wall there is a small rod iron gate, but it seems to be padlocked, barring her easy access.

Sam had never seen Basil in any sort of mental powers class, yet, here was some sort of obvious telepathic influence on display. Whatever was going on here was extremely deliberate.

Haley was a bit startled by the crows, but still moved closer to Sam and the unconscious Basil, ignoring her friend En's reassurances for now.

I wish my telepathy was less shitty so I could help... she thought to herself.

"This... this wasn't an accident."

"We may need to move him."

"I can help carry him," Haley volunteered.

Sam nods to Haley.

"We need to get him somewhere safe and quiet. The infirmary might be good."

Basil wouldn't wake at Haley's carrrying, no matter how hard she might accidentally jostle him along the way to the infirmary.

Not that she should try with Colette standing right there, of course.

Chase, naturally, accompanied those bound for the infirmary. "So someone did this deliberately?" he asked Sam with a coldness not directed at her. The old him would have found and let the vital fluids out of whoever did it... if the old him had actually had friends anyway.

Haley was being exceptionally careful as she used her TK to float Basil along, keeping a rigid plane of force underneath him, her eyes softly glowing with the effort.

A woman in a red cloak and white mask stepped to one side, allowing the others to pass before making her way into the party. The vibrant light green hair which protruded from under the hood of the cloak could have been a wig... but with mutants any hair colour was possible.

"Did someone get blackout drunk already? It's barely even dark out."

Emilie could be found slamming back another shot, ignoring the kerfuffle the invisible kid made.

" I dunno. Invisi-douche can't handle his liquor I guess."

"Well that puts a little damper on the fun then doesn't it?" The Shygal took a seat at the bar as well, looking over some of the tackily-named offerings of the night.

"At least I'm not the only one showing a bit of leg tonight."

"Aaaannnnnnnnnddddd titties." Emilie announced, laughing.

"Looking pretty adorbs there Jazzy Jezzy."

"Yeah, that's pretty darin' of ya. But tonight's the night for it."

Jez tilted her head a little bit. "Aww, I knew I should've kept quiet. Then I could have been all spooky and mysterious."

Trev wandered around the bar looking hopelessly lost. He'd been texting his apparently-unreliable invisible friend for forty-five minutes trying to coordinate picking up his blind date and coming to the party together before he gave up and headed down dressed up as Mario and with an inflatable Yoshi pool toy suspended around his waist.

"Yea, but eventually you'll have to take off that mask to put the hooch in your drinker anyways.

I'll buy ya one if ya know whacha want. I owe you for the dress." Emilie waved over at Trev.


"Hey DM, you look lost." She greeted, oblivious the two were looking for each other.

"Hey Em...I am, actually...Basil was supposed to get in touch with me about my date, and he's not answering my texts, and I don't see a giant Death anywhere around here either."

Jez did her best to keep quiet, though she was having a hard time of it. What were the chances that he'd be wearing a Mario-themed costume too?

"See-no-boundaries?" Em quipped.

"He got stupid drunk before his friends and passed out, I think. I wasn't paying attention, but all his friends got super concerned and the fun was over for them. I stayed and drank by myself.

"Who's your date? Maybe I know them."