[@The Bearded One][@Viridity][@Arty Fox]

[b]Twain [/b]smiled. "Yes. Me 'bits and bots'." Twain answered Charles. "I'm collecting evidence. If we can get these back to base we might be able to identify who or [i]what[/i] we are dealing with." He extended an extremity that looked arachnid. It dripped green goo rather than red blood, and looked crusty and brittle rather than soft and flsehy. 

[b]Gemma[/b] stepped forward next, responding to her new team mate. "I'll help you with these." She smiled and took the cards. The presence of a this new ally seemed to put her at ease.  

[b]Twain [/b]walked away from Vata and the bag of body bits and began to pace around the alter in a wide clockwise circle with a slow swagger. "As for anything else? I'm glad you asked!" Twain puffed his chest, he liked it when his brilliance was acknowledged. 

"First. We had a mysterious radiation blast, as detected by Mizzzzzz Gemma. There doesn't seem to be any nuclear reactors up here, so, what could have caused such a disturbance [i]in the force[/i]? It was not mechanical, the ritual circle suggests that it is magical or supernatural in origin."

"We've got bodies. Some are human, some are not. The non human stuff... Well... That is really rare in this day and age. Most of what's out there is pretty well documented by TRIDENT, or at least we thought so. It's weird that there is so much... [i]weirdness[/i] all in one place."

"Then we've got this alter and these symbols." He brushed his foot on the white chalk paint. "Most of it is messed up and really tough to read. White chalk is popular with necromancers, but, not all of these symbols are necromantic. It's hard to say." He squinted at the ground. "It's also really unusual to mix necromancy with other types of magic. They just don't jibe well." 

"What's really striking me is that, despite the presence of necromantic symbols and despite the vast number of [i]freshly[/i] dead bodies, I'm really quite surprised that... that..."

"There are no ghosts."

He frowned, genuinely frowned, a rare expression for the jolly leader of MERCY. This fact disturbed him more than any other fact discovered.

He had other things in mind, other clues that he could discuss with his team later... Not in front of the [i]strangers[/i]. The strangers with amnesia. The strangers from strange places. The strangers... or the [i]liars[/i]. He made eye contact with Charles. The eye contact was hopefully long enough to deliver this message, but not long enough for the others to notice that anything was amiss. 

"And as for the rumbling...." Twain finally addressed the noise he now heard. "I... Have no idea..." He glanced between Charles and Vata. They both said the word dragon, but Twain had not taken the word seriously until this very moment. 

XII dashed outside as the noise became louder. The sound of falling snow. Rolling snow. The castle rock began to shake. Avalanche. 

"Ah crap. Where are you going?!" He yelled at XII "Everyone get over here!" 

[b]Alexavier [/b] stepped forward. "I shall fetch him!" Princely, heroically, answering the call of duty. 

Alexavier was not foolish. He left his main body and identity with Twain and the others. He sent his two clones, Xavier and Alex, into danger. They [i]separated[/i]. Two other copies seemed to step right out of him. 

Three of a kind. 

Xavier and Alex dashed out.

[b]Xavier [/b] reached XIII. "Impressive." Xavier muttered as he reached the prone magician. "But you have made the fatal mistake of leaving yourself powerless." Xavier stood for a moment considering the man. In his country such a mistake would not be forgiven and the man would be permitted only to languish in consequences of his own mistakes. Xavier in particular was the colder and more callous side of Alexavier. Yet Xavier recognized that he was not at home and the rules were different. In other countries lessons were presumably learned through mercy and trial. 

He did not know the ways of this country, nor the man before him. The man before him might be a powerful ally or enemy. Perhaps he was the man behind all this madness. The man had power, indeed, and might have something more important...

Answers.

He didn't save XIII out of compassion. He saved XIII to preserve whatever information the man had in his mind, that might help Xavier find his way home.

He picked up XIII, for Xavier had the strength of many men, and began to carry him back toward the castle. 

[b]Alex[/b], reached John shortly thereafter. Alex was much faster than Xavier, and was not nearly so grumpy as Xavier. He had a more difficult time interacting with John. The shield of fire would indeed effectively block out the avalanche, but also Alex. 

"Greetings!" Alex called, hoping that the man might hear him past the barrier of flame. "I should like to inform you that, should you survive this, everyone else is in the castle. We might be trapped there for some time, considering the circumstances. If you can get there you most certainly should!"

Then the snow hit him. It hit him with the force of a wrecking ball. He hurt. He would have died if he were a real person. But he was not. He was only a copy. He was buried by snow then vanished.