From Russia, with Love [Warren first]

[Warren Worthington III]

Warren is still pretty bewildered by all of this… the cavern, the jousting field, the knights in armor, everything.

It’s similar in some ways to his previous experiences with Josh, but different – always before, with Josh guiding it, it had been about the exploration of body and mind, the sharing of their lives, the merging of their souls. Sure, they’d touched all kinds of things, some not so pretty… frankly, some of it was downright scary, not to mention often embarrassing and not-infrequently disgusting… but they’d been searching for beauty, in themselves and each other, and that made a difference.

Now… it was different. This new psychic; Warren can feel the man’s essence pervading everything. If Josh weren’t here, Warren suspects that gloom would overcome him with darkness; as it is, it’s more like a pervasive gloom, or one of those coughs that never goes away. The wages of sin is death… but after taxes are taken out, all you have left is this tired feeling.

> Nice job, babe. This really how you see me? We might have to play around in here later…

The air seems to lighten at that, and earns a smile. Well, maybe not the armor so much… but everything under it, that’s about right.

> In theory, you should be able to do just about anything in here. It’s all about strength of mind

Oh. Well, in that case, there has to be a better setting than this for the fight, doesn’t there? Josh and Rasputin seem equally matched – armor, weapons, horses – and it’s not like Warren can do much fighting in a dress. OK, then… let’s see what I can do to twist the odds a little, shall we?

It’s harder than it sounds, though… the setting is like a tune stuck in his head, and changing it is difficult. All he can think of is variations on Arthurian legend… Camelot… Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur”… Disney’s Sword in the Stone… Bradley’s Mists of Avalon… Warren had been a fan of the legend when he was a kid, and much of it stuck with him.

But in White’s “Once and Future King,” Merlin transforms the young Arthur into an ant, sends him to live in an ant colony. That image had been powerful for the young Warren, and all at once it comes alive for him... the sign over the entrance, declaring “Anything Not Compulsory Is Forbidden”… the hive itself, and the totalitarian regime that rules it… and, everywhere, the ants.

And as the setting changes around him, he realizes this was not the cleverest thing he’s ever done… realizes the ants themselves aren’t necessarily on his side, and that the transition may have made the situation worse. In fact, in retrospect he’s not entirely sure the idea was his own… but for the moment it seems they’re stuck with it.

He clacks his mandibles together and sidles over to Josh’s side (and even as an ant, there’s still something lovely about him). Um… any suggestions?

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> <You going to try and save him? Maybe you should think twice before pissing off Magneto.>

<Maybe Magneto should think twice before kidnapping X-Men! And there’s no trying… only doing.> Inwardly, though, the man’s words shake him. Magneto’s after us? What did we do? They’d only rescued Bob, and brought John back to the Institute. And trashed their headquarters. Oops.

<What are you trying to accomplish? We only fought to protect one of our own. Wouldn’t you?> Josh stares across the battlefield at Rasputin, until the entire scene once again ripples before his eyes… becoming an… ant hill?

Honey… what did you just…? Josh shakes his head, which he realizes is suddenly much closer to the ground. I’m an ant?!

> Um… any suggestions?

Maybe we’d better come up with something else, because I don’t have any idea how to fight as an ant. As Warren approaches, Josh wraps him further in his own telepathic defenses, senses alert for any sort of intrusion. This Rasputin guy gives me the creeps. Umm… come on, anything else!.

His mind locks up in the middle of it all, stubbornly refusing to bring forth inspiration. What do we do?? Josh scuttles over a pile of sand, pulling Warren along with him. King Arthur… King Arthur… Suddenly, that King Arthur movie from the other year with Clive Owen and Keira Knightley bursts forth from his mind.

Uh oh… don’t hate me, but I think we’re in for it. With a brilliant blast of light, the scene changes, leaving the two of them in the middle of a war zone. Explosions play across the field, and the Woads and Saxons fight viciously for their lives.

Oh, gosh! What did I do now? Josh looks down at himself. Once again he’s ensconced in shining armor, though of a lighter-looking variety than before. A sword is strapped to his back, which he has a sneaking suspicion is Excalibur. A screaming Saxon presents itself from the melee, and Josh draws his sword, meaning to attack. Immediately, a trio of savage-looking women topples the Saxon to the ground and plunge knives into him.

Aack! I forgot about that bit. He steps back quickly as a pair of horseback riders pass them. Hey, wonder if Clive or Keira are around here… Oh! What did I make you look like, anyway? Josh glances over at Warren, and then does a double take as his jaw drops.

Warren is dressed in Woadish leather battle armor, though somewhat skimpier than he’d remembered the men in the movie wearing. Ooops… my mind just sort of takes liberties sometimes. In addition, Warren has blue war paint and Celtic tattoos painted across his chest and arms.

Wow. That’s incredibly hot. Josh takes a moment to ogle Warren, but a nearby explosion moves him into action. He swings the two of them up onto a riderless horse, and they begin galloping off across the battlefield. As the two of them spot Rasputin across the field, Josh hammers him with telepathic force, attempting to throw the other man out of Warren’s mind.

[Nikkolas Blagetovich]

Rasputin just observed as they changed from ants, back to people. What is this kid thinking? As if the whole situation wasn't strange already, Rasputin attacking them, they turned in and out of forms on the whim of Warren. Warren seemed to be a very strange individual indeed, who in their right mind thinks of ants...obviously Warren.

<Maybe Magneto should think twice before kidnapping X-Men! And there’s no trying… only doing>

<Details mean very little to me. I wasn't really briefed on what you did to bring this upon yourself, but I am just doing as I'm ordered. And if you attempt to force me out with brute force, the side effects on Warren could be...catasrphic.> He laughed wickedly, Rasputin had no 'little voice' in his head telling him what was right and what was wrong, or the conscience as it was called. He had various mental blocks suppressing his emotions that would let the little voice out.

<What are you trying to accomplish? We only fought to protect one of our own. Wouldn’t you?>

<I am doing what I'm told plain and simple. Magneto gives me a place to stay, and a purpose to exist. You will think twice before crossing him again. I have no attachments like you have, my emotions are suppressed letting me see the truth of things. I need not to explain this to you!> This was a touchy matter for Rasputin and it could be heard in his voice, he didn't like to talk about personal attachments.

They were in a battle field, Rasputin had never seen anything like it, but he was dressed in Saxon armor, and equipped with a bow and arrow, and a battle axe on his back. He watched as the two forces were colliding, and it looked as if they were dead locked. Neither side winning, neither loosing.

As he stood on what seemed to be his side of the battle field, he watched Josh and Warren mount a horse and charge him. With Warren being the one controlling where they fought, this left Rasputin at a disadvantage. He'd have to take some sort of control of what was going on, and that meant seizing Warren's mind, or some of it.

They charged him on horse, not only physically attacking him, but Josh launched a telepathic wave at him. Rasputin's mental defenses withstood the attack, but it was strong. He wouldn't be able to completely meld with Warren while Josh was around, he'd have to try something new and partial.

Rasputin barely dodged the horse, the battle axe was very heavy and hindered his movements. But as the horse ran past him, he took quick aim with his bow and fired at the horse, hoping it would demount them. As he shot at them, he launched a mental onslaught against Warren, which if successful would dig Rasputin a little deeper in Warren, and influence him.

[Warren Worthington III]

The anthill imagery fades almost as quickly as it appeared, replaced by what seems at first to be the same setting they’d started in, but quickly proves more chaotic… a war zone, rather than a duel. Is that good? Bad? Warren has no idea.

He’s pretty sure the first transition, from the jousting pen to the anthill, had been influenced by this Rasputin character – not its content, necessarily, but the transition itself. And this scene came from Josh’s mind, which would make it to their advantage, right? Maybe. Josh doesn’t sound too confident about the results… apparently this sort of thing is new to him, too.

> Ooops… my mind just sort of takes liberties sometimes. Wow. That’s incredibly hot.

Or maybe he’s just got a different agenda? Warren can’t help but grin in response, making a mental note to get one of these outfits made for when they’ve got more time. Or perhaps two.

Meanwhile, they seem to be in a battle. Or… well, kind of a battle. Warren winces as one of what seems to be the enemy is sliced to pieces by three of what seem to be his allies, even though part of him knows that they aren’t really people and they aren’t really dying… it’s all just part of his mind. At least, he’s pretty sure it is. Truthfully, it’s all pretty confusing.

Even more confusing is the exchange between the two telepaths. So, OK, this Rasputin character is under orders from Magneto… but to do what, exactly? Even he doesn’t seem to know for sure… just to make him and Josh “think twice before crossing him.” What does that even mean?

And now they’re on a horse, and Warren is vaguely aware of telepathic fighting going on… Josh fires off something at Rasputin, which seems to shake him but not get through his shield; Rasputin retaliates with some kind of mental attack but Warren can’t even figure out what it’s meant to do… and meanwhile there’s arrows and explosives and soldiers screaming…

"OK, that’s quite ENOUGH!" he shouts. He’s not really sure what he’s doing, or how he’s doing it, but he’s lost patience with this whole thing. If this really is his mind, then he gets to pick the battlefield… and entertaining as all the armor and horse-sweat and skimpy clothing is, this isn’t where he prefers to do his fighting.

The battlefield fades away, replaced by a well-appointed corporate boardroom; his and Josh’s outlandish outfits replaced by tailored business suits. Across the table is Rasputin, dressed much the same. Warren gets up, paces a little. "All right, Mr. Rasputin. As I understand it, your employer wants assurances that we will “think twice” before trespassing on his property, however legitimate the motive. Is that correct? I presume that means he wishes assurances that the trespass will not be repeated, and that reparations of some sort will be made, yes? I'm sure we can come to some sort of an arrangement here, then. Can you be more precise about your employer’s wishes? "

[Warren Worthington III]

Warren frowns thoughtfully, and continues with only a small pause, snapping open the clasps on an attaché case he didn’t have a moment earlier and pulling out a single piece of paper.

"On further thought, I may be able to simplify matters for you. Your employer wishes assurances that our earlier intrusion will not be repeated; we wish similar assurances with respect to the liberties he took with our teammate. A simple boilerplate contract should be adequate to meet both our needs and put an end to these shenanigans, I think."

He hands a copy of the document to Rasputin, and another to Josh.

The X-Men, represented by Warren Worthington III (aka “Angel”) and Joshua Dalton (aka “Impulse”), hereafter referred to as the Party of the First Part, and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (aka “The Brotherhood of Mutants,” aka “The Brotherhood”, aka “Magneto’s Mutants), represented by ________________ (aka “Rasputin”), hereafter referred to as the Party of the Second Part, do hereby contract as follows:

• To mutually refrain from intrusion, by any means including but not limited to physical entry, psionic assault, teleportation or apportation, into one another’s property
  
• To mutually refrain from damage, theft, or destruction, by any means including but not limited to physical assault, psionic assault or intrusion, energetic discharge, weapons fire, and mutant abilities, of one another’s property or of allied individuals.
  
• To mutually indemnify and seek no further recompense for above-described behavior occurring prior to the signing of this contract, including but not limited to the kidnapping and assault of Robert Drake (aka “Iceman”) and his subsequent extraction.

Violation of any clause of this contract, by either party, shall render the entire contract null, void, and unenforceable.

Entered into by mutual agreement this third day of December, 2006.

There’s space underneath for the three of them to sign, and Warren hands Rasputin a pen.

"There. That should be more than enough to force us to think twice before taking any further action against your employer. Do we have any further business here?"

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

>Details mean very little to me. I wasn't really briefed on what you did to bring this upon yourself, but I am just doing as I'm ordered.

>I am doing what I'm told plain and simple.

What an idiot. Something about the way supervillains ran their organizational structure… Josh couldn’t imagine doing something like attacking another being just because Jake or Ororo told him to do so. Every time they’d gone into battle as a team, he’d understood the reasons and background for the mission. Only a fool lets others do their thinking for them.

As the two of them sail through the melee, Josh sees an arrow arc their way from Rasputin, still some distance off. With only a thought, the arrow vanishes completely. As they get closer, the battle becomes more intense, and Josh holds onto Warren more tightly, until…

> "OK, that’s quite ENOUGH!"

Josh jerks, startled, seeing as Warren’s directly behind him on the horse. At least… he was? The blood, grime, and smoke of battle has been replaced with some kind of conference room. Warren’s battlefield. Even without their telepathic link, and Warren’s lack of patience with this whole ordeal flooding over, the symbolism would be obvious. Not that my battlefield is a moor in England, but, you know.

> I'm sure we can come to some sort of an arrangement here, then.

With Magneto, I’m not so sure. Josh bites his tongue and folds his hands. The two of them had been together long enough for him to realize that they each did different kinds of things better. Together, they were unstoppable. As unlikely as it is for the barbarian across the table to actually want to talk about something, it’s still possible.

When Warren pulls the contract out of his case and pushes a copy towards him, Josh resists the urge to start laughing. After reading it, he’s merely intrigued. This fulfills Mags’s requirement… but what’s he gonna do?

Leaving the talking to Warren, Josh contents himself with being ready to throw Rasputin backwards through the window at any sudden movements.

[Nikkolas Blagetovich]

[[LOL You guys are sweet!]]

Rasputin watched as his arrow vanished into thin air, like he'd never fired it. The battle field with swords, shields, axes, and armor was the type of battle field that Rasputin related fighting to. All of the epic battles that he'd heard about from his deceased family in Russia all took place on a battle field. Board rooms, and other such things were places of business, and for the highly educated. Rasputin was not familiar with the setting to be.

When Warren began to lose patience, Rasputin could feel it, he could feel the annoyance that Warren had. Being partially melded with Warren, these feelings were amplified in Rasputin's head. His mind was being tugged from everywhere all of a sudden. The blow dealt by Josh on the battle field that he just blew off, started a rippling effect in Rasputin's mind. He'd never exerted himself in this manner before, and has never really been trained to control his power other then what he's done himself.

The various mental blocks that Rasputin had in place in his mind started to fold. Depression, love, sorrow, embarrassment, all undesired emotions began to flood into his mind. He did his best to keep it under wraps, but surely the dynamic duo would see a change in the way he conducted himself.

He looked at his hands, his clothes, the setting that the were now in. They were in a board room, something that you'd see off of TV. He was dressed in a nice suit, and his messy hair wasn't so messy. He looked professional, like a high rate business man. If Rasputin was still in the same state that he was in when he attacked Warren, he'd never even agree to sit and 'discuss' this with him over a table and contract. Things were getting out of hand for Rasputin, the tearing down of his mind, and the flooding of emotions were a little too much.

Embarrassment. When Warren slid the contract over to Rasputin, his face lit up beet red. He could barely read Russian, let alone advance English like this. He had no grasp on the English alphabet and words. Speaking was one thing, reading was another. Usually he just read minds when he didn't understand something to get a better grasp on the situation, but being already partially melded with someone, being projected in their head, using extreme telepathic strength, and loosing what control over yourself that you had, just made forced entry telepathy a bad idea right now.

Rasputin put his pale hand on the piece of paper and raised it up, as if he was going to read it. He set it down lightly, and gazed at Josh and Warren. His eyes revealed his nervousness of the situation, he wasn't in a playing field he was used too. "I cannot read English, nor can understand what you're saying. If you could repeat all of that in simpler English or in Russian I may consider whatever it is you're asking. " he said softly and his accent showed greatly, not with the craziness that he'd had just 10 minutes ago.

[Warren Worthington III]

Warren really wasn’t sure what to expect from this guy in a contract negotiation, but this certainly isn’t it. Warren isn’t a telepath, and despite the fact that all of this is taking place in his own mind he doesn’t have the experience or the sensitivity to interpret half of what he’s perceiving.

Some things, though, are pretty obvious. Rasputin has suddenly gone from indifferent, unemotional, overconfident and vaguely sadistic to nervous, embarrassed, uncertain of himself. Unexpectedly, changing the setting has not only changed the nature of their metaphorical battle, it has upset the balance of power.

Briefly, he considers following up on the advantage while he has it. He’s seen his father’s lawyers handle negotiations; they would swoop in on someone this confused and get him to sign pretty much anything they wanted… but that leaves a bad taste in Warren’s mouth. And besides, it’s not like a contract signed inside his head will hold up in court; the contract itself is just some kind of metaphor, like a handshake; tricking Rasputin into signing something he doesn’t understand just defeats the whole purpose.

"I’m sorry… I don’t speak Russian, myself. I can offer you French and Japanese? Or… well, basically what it says is that the Brotherhood and the X-Men mutually indemnify – " he shakes his head, realizing that the legal jargon that comes so naturally to him isn’t going to make any more sense voiced than it does written, and tries again more gently. "It means we call it even and promise not to attack unless we or our allies are attacked first… and that you and your boss promise the same. No more kidnappings, no more invasions. That’s what you wanted, right?"

It feels ridiculous doing this; the whole point of legal language is to be precise. Still, the spirit of the negotiations is upheld. Besides, he thinks, it’s not like the X-Men have any intention to go on the offensive against Magneto’s Brotherhood… if they don’t cause trouble, we’re certainly not going to.

He looks over at Josh a little helplessly. "Hon, you’re the professional here… you think you can, I don’t know, wave your magic wand and turn this into a Russian-language translation?" The idea seems ridiculous – how can Josh translate the contract into a language he doesn’t speak? – but Warren isn’t really clear on what is and isn’t possible in this kind of environment. Is writing a metaphorical Russian contract any more impossible than being a metaphorical ant? Worth a shot, he figures, and waits expectantly for an answer.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

>"I cannot read English, nor can understand what you're saying. If you could repeat all of that in simpler English or in Russian I may consider whatever it is you're asking. "

Josh tries not to gape. Suddenly, Rasputin seems like a totally different person. Wow, what a change.

>"Hon, you’re the professional here… you think you can, I don’t know, wave your magic wand and turn this into a Russian-language translation?"

“Umm… let me think about this for a second. Not directly. I’d need to understand Russian.” Josh taps an expensive-looking pen against his cheek, deeply in thought. I need to know how to write in Russian. But… Hm. After a few seconds, he comes up with an idea. I don’t know how well this is going to go over, but whatever.

“What I can do is tap into your brain to use your knowledge of the Russian language.” Josh looks across the table at Rasputin. “It’s only going to be for a moment. Since you understand Russian perfectly, and English is my primary language, I can use the language centers of your brain as a kind of Babel Fish. I think. I’m going to have to sustain the mental contact until the translation is finished, though, or it’s not going to work.” It makes sense to me, anyway… and that’s all that’s important.

He looks first at Warren, and then back at Rasputin. “The only thing is, you have to let me in. My powers don’t work very well on cutting through others’ mental blocks. All it would do is break up the end product. You know what they say…. garbage in, garbage out.” Or maybe you don’t. Pete never used to understand many colloquialisms either.

“Please, try to trust me. I have no intention of hurting you.” Josh stands, and folds his arms, waiting for an answer.

[Nikkolas Blagetovich]

Rasputin's mind was going through a whole lot of changes. His built up emotions flooded in from all over, overwhelming some of his senses. His mind was attempting to fix itself, making him to his old self, not someone full of mental blocks, hatred, and evil. He wasn't raised to be 'evil', just an unfortunate series of events changed him.

His life was filled full of sorrow, hardship, just things that normal people didn't go through. Over time, he learned to block the emotions that caused him pain. Love, fright, sadness, embarrassment, jealousy and other emotions that caused one unpleasantness.

Rasputin watched as the two conversed on what to do about him, or with him. Warren's contract was pretty much pointless as it was because Rasputin couldn't understand it.

"It means we call it even and promise not to attack unless we or our allies are attacked first… and that you and your boss promise the same. No more kidnappings, no more invasions. That’s what you wanted, right?

Rasputin understands somewhat of what he's saying, but not enough to agree to anything. Yes, Magneto would probably like the X-Men staying out of his hair, but he didn't really explain everything he was thinking to Rasputin, nor could Rasputin go snooping around in his head because of that little bitch Elliot would alert Magneto of his intrusion. Rasputin wasn't an Elliot fan. "I am not sure of what you ask."

“What I can do is tap into your brain to use your knowledge of the Russian language.”

Though Rasputin isn't an English professional, he understands what Josh is asking of him. Though his mind is all over, he still knows better then to let someone openly into his mind. Not only would it be unsafe for Rasputin, but it could be harmful to Josh. He might accidentally access one of Rasputin's emotions, memories, or something that he couldn't control right now. On the plus side, if Josh went into Rasputin's mind, it would leave his own more vulnerable if he tried to pull any funny business.

He squinted his eyes at Josh, "So, by me opening mind and letting you learn Russian, you promise to only do that?" His sentence wasn't really correct, but it should get the point across to Josh. Rasputin takes a hard look at Josh, before finally deciding to trust him. "Alright, but I can't guarantee anything." Rasputin is taking a huge leap of faith by letting this go on, hopefully Josh doesn't break his word.

He took a deep breath, and put his elbows on the table and resting his head in his hands. His fingers ran through his hair, and he prepared himself. He looked at Josh, then closed his eyes. He was ready.

[Warren Worthington III]

> " What I can do is tap into your brain to use your knowledge of the Russian language."
> " So, by me opening mind and letting you learn Russian, you promise to only do that? Alright, but I can't guarantee anything."

The suggestion surprises Warren, but not nearly as much as Rasputin’s willing cooperation. There’s something very strange going on here, and Warren is more than a little suspicious. He seems sincere, but on the other hand this is the same guy who made it look like the cafe was full of people trying to kill him… appearances might be deceiving.

Except that, first of all, he’s not entirely sure it is the same guy… his whole personality seems to be changing around as they speak. Some kind of MPD, maybe? Warren has no idea, and that sort of thing is more up Josh’s alley than his own in any case. And second, he’s confident that Josh would notice any attempt to mess up his perceptions.

Weird.

Well, things seem to be going in a mutually beneficial direction, so he’s not going to interfere. Josh has it all over him in terms of being aware of what Rasputin is up to, but this is still Warren’s mind, which ought to mean he’s not entirely useless… and, on the chance that this is some kind of distraction, he starts extending his perceptions a little wider to see and hear what else is going on.

It’s odd, at first… there are no sounds outside until he listens for them, and then they appear… typical office-park noises, cars and wind swooping past the windows. He imagines a few security guards standing outside the conference room door, just in case things go wrong.

Then, faintly, he becomes aware of a different set of sounds: crowds talking, police sirens. He concentrates on those, and realizes after a moment that they are coming from outside his mind, from the street below the roof he landed on. Weirder and weirder Nobody is moving near his body, which is a relief, and he concentrates more of his attention on the outside, letting Josh do what he’s going to do.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "Alright, but I can't guarantee anything."

What… does that mean? Josh resists the urge to cancel the entire plan. There’s something seriously wrong with this guy. As soon as Rasputin lowers his conscious mental blocks, Josh is sure of that. His mental constructs simply feel wrong.

Josh looks over to Warren, and takes his hand for a moment. I’ll be fine. I’m not sure what’s going on with this guy… but I don’t think he’s pulling some kind of trick. His head cants to one side. If something does go wrong, get to the Institute as fast as possible and get Jake. I’m in our bedroom. Josh takes a deep breath, and locks eyes with Warren, letting a small smile work its way onto his features. With a burst of light, he disappears.

Back at the Institute, Josh is partially aware of Puppy snoozing in the corner before his physical senses drop back out and are replaced with his perception of Rasputin’s mind. He resolves to stay away from higher functional areas. As he skirts those areas carefully, he’s instantly aware of mental constructs that seem intentional… but harmful, as far as he's concerned. Interesting…

Here we are. Josh arrives after passing through layer after layer of dropped mental defenses, and if he was in control of his physical body he would shake his head. This guy’s not just a simple thug. At Rasputin’s language center, he locates the man’s mental construct of the Russian language. Oh…that would be helpful… Josh follows a related link to Rasputin’s ability to write in Russian, and extends his senses through it and back to Warren.

With another burst of light, Josh appears back in the conference room. He concentrates on the contract, and before their eyes, the letters rearrange on the page and morph into the Russian alphabet. Josh looks over it for a moment and then sits back in his chair, carefully withdrawing his telepathic abilities from Rasputin’s mind. As the link closes, the words suddenly cease to have any meaning for him, and he shakes his head, disoriented.

“There. Is that any better? I’m sorry there wasn’t a less invasive way.” He catches himself afterwards. This to the man who just made my boyfriend jump out a window? How very... strange. Josh looks over at Warren.

This is your battlefield, General. What’s our next move?

[Nikkolas Blagetovich]

The dark labyrinth, also known as Rasputin's mind, was opened for a brief moment. Not often did the sadistic one willingly let someone in his mind, where he hid his darkest secrets, and where his true self resided behind all of the blocks and defenses. Nikkolas Alekzander Blagetovich was his name at one time, when he had a family, a home...

Rasputin could feel Josh gently poke and prod around in his mind, searching for a solution to their problem. He could feel Josh's unease with Rasputin's mind. The mental stability of his mind was a concern of Josh's, the structure of it all. Josh's feeling pushed the extreme in Rasputin's head, and he face became beet red. His eyes were glazed with tears, and they began to stream from his face. Rasputin's mind was in the process of 'fixing' itself as if it was ever normal.

As Josh achieved his objective and withdrew from Rasputin's mind, his little emotional outburst slowly stopped. He didn't wipe his face, he just let his tears stay where they were. He sat and watched Josh change around the words on the contract from English, to Russian. Josh passed it over to him, and he read it. Rasputin caught a small bit of Josh's thought unintentionally about being the man who force Warren out a window.

To mutually refrain from intrusion, by any means including but not limited to physical entry, psionic assault, teleportation or apportation, into one another’s property

"Well, the first term of contract is acceptable by me." His verbal English skills lacked. He moved down to the second term.

To mutually refrain from damage, theft, or destruction, by any means including but not limited to physical assault, psionic assault or intrusion, energetic discharge, weapons fire, and mutant abilities, of one another’s property or of allied individuals.

Rasputin chuckled at this term. '...refrain from damage, theft, or destruction, by any means...', well that was kind of the cause of this in the first place. "This term is acceptable."He skims down to the third and final term.

To mutually indemnify and seek no further recompense for above-described behavior occurring prior to the signing of this contract, including but not limited to the kidnapping and assault of Robert Drake (aka “Iceman”) and his subsequent extraction.

Rasputin had no idea who Robert Drake was, or anything about a kidnapping. "This term is acceptable as well." As the word 'well' came off his tongue, horror struck his heart. A dazed, desperate look came over his face. Sure, all of these terms were acceptable to him, but what about Magneto? Rasputin was sure that Magneto would not appreciate him making decisions on behalf of the Brotherhood, and was sure it would lead do his immediate 'termination.'

He stood up, and slammed his hands down on the table. He began to speak very fast Russian at them, but when he realized they understood Russian no more than he English..."I cannot make decision for Magneto. I must finish what I was sent to do or I will face consequences." His eyes were extremely large, and he looked paranoid all of a sudden.

[Warren Worthington III]

> This is your battlefield, General. What’s our next move?

Warren almost grins at the title. I’m really not sure… I think the next move is his, really. If what he’s looking for is assurances that this won’t happen again, I’m happy to provide them if he is.

Rasputin’s emotional transitions as he reads the translated contract don’t escape Warren’s attention, but he’s not at all sure how to interpret them. Hon, do you have any idea what this guy’s deal is? He seemed like a full-fledged sociopath at first, but now… well, I don’t know what’s going on. Are we dealing with a multiple-personality disorder or something like that?

As if on cue, Rasputin suddenly goes from tearful and cooperative to frightened, almost paranoid.
> " I cannot make decision for Magneto. I must finish what I was sent to do or I will face consequences. "

"I see," Warren replies, trying to maintain an aura of calm professionalism despite his annoyance. The “I have to check with my boss” ploy is a tried and true negotiating technique, but he suspects that what’s going on here is more complicated than that.

He takes a sip from a teacup that wasn’t in his hands a moment ago and adds "Well, then, can you tell us what, precisely, you were sent to do?
If it’s to make us think twice before further invasions of your employers’ premises, I can assure you your task has been completed successfully... come to that, we thought twice about it before doing it the first time.
If it’s something else, then these negotiations will go far more smoothly if you can tell us what your task actually is."

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh looks across the table at Rasputin. During his trip through their adversary’s (was that even what he was anymore? It was hard to figure out) mind, he could tell that he hadn’t had an easy life. More interesting, perhaps, was that Rasputin was aware of the mental barriers in his mind. Why are they there? He shakes his head slightly.

>If what he’s looking for is assurances that this won’t happen again, I’m happy to provide them if he is.

I agree. Though this is starting to piss me off. Magneto is always the instigator. Why is he so concerned we’re going to commit random acts of violence? Josh rolls his eyes.

>but now… well, I don’t know what’s going on. Are we dealing with a multiple-personality disorder or something like that?

Josh considers the question for a moment. I’m not really sure… though it’s not multiple-personality. His mind’s not fragmented enough for that. When I was poking around looking for Russian, I found a lot of strange mental constructs. I don’t know what they were for, but they seemed both intention and harmful at the same time. Put in place by Rasputin, if I’m not mistaken. He tenses a little. Just… be careful. I really don’t like these strange mood shifts.

>I cannot make decision for Magneto. I must finish what I was sent to do or I will face consequences.

>If it’s something else, then these negotiations will go far more smoothly if you can tell us what your task actually is.

After Warren speaks, Josh begins to get impatient. “What is it you were sent to do? You keep saying your goal was to make us ‘think twice’. Well, we did before, we definitely will in the future.” Especially if it keeps us from another run-in with Magneto’s lackeys.