Stepping rhough the archway, Joanna, er, Jono almost sighs in relief. He runs a hand back through his shaggy mane of hair, zipping the jacket back up tightly, shoving his fists back into his hands, (~~..psionic PMS sucks...~~) a few people close to him will catch. He still isn't happy over what he saw in Paige's room. Paige just shoves her hands in her pockets, as the male form fades away. Yeah, she's probably the only one who didn't wig about being someone other then herself. She's... used to that sorta thing. No big deal. "Ya oughtta be subject t' the real thing. Course, mah powers handle that." She mutters, just behind her boyfriend, as she walks through, and then peers around the room. Jubilee is the next through the archway, hands stuffed in his jean pockets before they disappear and she is back in that dress. Hmph. If only she could have kept the clothes. Her head turns to look over at Terry at the girl comes through as well and she looks a little.. guilty. "Hey Terry? Um.. I just wanted ta say.. ya know.. I'm sorry for what happened back there. Didn't mean ta hurt ya." Much. And considering they're both sporting brand-spanking-new shiners.. Well, they each got their digs in. The red head peers down her sweater and mutters, "Thank th' lord, th' girls are back.." She rakes a hand through her hair. She reaches up and runs her fingers over her swollen shiner, "Jubes y' got one hell o' a ledt hook." Terry grins wearily, "Dinna worry lass, Terry th' boy deserved it. I'm sorry too... I'll ha' t' apologize t' Sam an' Will as well.." Gwen Namura walks out of the room carrying a Sleeping Will. She loses an inch of height, and maybe ten pounds of muscle, and Will gains the same. She really doesn't seem bothered by this. Though, all things considered, this may be the first time some people have had the chance to notice exactly how bizzarely muscled Gwen is. Like, no fat at all. Alright. To start off with, this room is yet another blank one. That's kind of getting annoying isn't it? A few moments later, after everyone gets inside and the arch desolves in the air, the room changes. It becomes a teenager's bedroom. A very specific teenager in fact. Jonothon Starmore's bedroom. To the exact detail. Everything looks exactly how he and Paige left it when they ran downstairs to see what the noise they heard below was - the noise created when the team activated the game. There are two things that are strange about this room. One, is Jonothon suddenly unable to see anyone in the room at all. No one. Paige, Jubilee, Gwen... they've all vanished in his eyes. Truth of the matter, Jonothon was instantly teleported into another room. The room he is in, is the room that everyone else sees, but it is just a visual illusion to the others. They wouldn't be able to touch it or Jono, and hense, they are far enough away that Jono couldn't pick up their telepathic signatures, but wouldn't really be able to get more then a vague impression. He does however sense a very familar person in the room with him. To the others though, Jono still appears to be there. Jonothon's Room -- Tower of Illusion -- Niflheim A dark, dreary room. Everything, the wall, the carpet, the ceiling, its all black. A king-sized bed is pushed into a corner, the dark black and red sheets rumpled and in a mess. The bed is obviously not made. A dark wood dresser is across from the bed, books and CDs piled onto it, along with a picture. CDs and Cases are thrown are on the floor, scattered around the large stereo in another corner. It sits on a shelf of a tv cabinet, the doors opened to show the large 22" TV. Connected to the TV is a Sony Playstation, various games and perephenalia scattered about it. A SurroundSound speaker system is wired around the room, two large, 2 foot by 1 foot speakers set up in the corners opposite the TV, and larger speakers, about 4 foot by 3 foot, are set up on either side of the TV. The room is light, most of the time, by a pair of 50 watt bulbs hanging from the center of the ceiling, and a strobe light and black light on either side. Much of the time the strobe light and black light are on, simultaneously. (~~...m'room? Wot th'ell, Paige, wot're...~~) ...we doing here. Now where are the rest of you? (~~...guys?~~) Jono exclaims, spinning around, searching for the people, kicking various underclothes - male and female - as he moves. And Paige was just about to do the same thing. "Aw, hell..." And she's got an almost maidenly... of course, her foot passes through 'em. "J-" She blinks as she looks up, seeing Jono is looking for them like they're not here. "What, Jon'thin?" she says, wondering about his... strange behavior. Jubilee arches up a brow at Jono's behavior and then turns her eyes towards Paige.. and finally down.. and a slightly amused look comes over her face. She'd make a snide comment, but she doesn't wanna start something here. "Looks like he can't see us. Lishka finally got wise ta how we're gettin' through this, Paige. Now she's on the 'divide and conqure' riff." Which shoots down their chances of making it out of this one fast.. and considering Jube never once thought maybe she'd have to go through HER room alone.. gaaah. This isn't fun, and she's not happy, despite the tiny smile she's painted on. Terry drops onto the bed and falls straight through landing on the floor. Owwwww, "Ok a' illusion fer us... damn damn damn..." She mutters, "Na' I've bruised muh ass." Gwen Namura says, "Thanks for finding that out, Terry. I was about to put Will there." Instead, Gwen bends and puts sleeping hunklet in the corner of the room all nice and tidy. She then walks around behind Jono and makes bunny ears with her fingers behind his head. Yup. It's an illusion for you all, and one for Jono as well. Just different for each. And here comes another difference. There's someone else in the room. She appears out of the shadowed corner that Gwen just laid Will down in. She says softly, "Hello, Jonothon." To Jono, what he sees walking towards him is the usually sexy and beautiful version and -clean- of Paige and he even hears her voice, accent and all. Her mental signature is stronger then it should be, but it seems to be somewhat masked. To the others, they all see Lishka in all her glory. Dressed in that barely opaque golden dress she was wearing when they first arrived. And when I mean barely opaque, I mean it. A wet white t-shirt would cover more. "I think this must be your room, hmm..." *Blink* (~~...wo'?~~) Jono asks as he spins, trying to reach out to feel where everyone else went, (~~...gel, where's th'rest o'th'group? They were `ere a min' ago...~~) he asks, trying to figure out why "Paige"s signature is stronger. Groan. "Y' hurt him, an Ah'll kill ya." She's been going over just what kinda photon mix she needs to husk into sunlight. She's going to do it. She's GOING to kill Lishka. She *is*. Really. Jubilee arches up an eyebrow, seeming to notice something Paige apparently didn't.. "Since when is Jono on such friendly terms with /Lishka/? 'The rest of the group'? Clue in, Paige. Don't think he's seein' what we are." Jube hms to herself in thought before she does something a little.. intelligent for Jube. She walks up close to Jono, infront of him and off to the side so we won't be walking through her, and she's kind of between him and Lishka. She then bends down and puts one hand on the floor to feel for vibrations as the two walk, then waves a hand out to try and touch Lishka. Terry murmurs, "D' we really na' wha' happened when Jono was ou' o' our Sight, maybe tis na' Jono.." Paige, too bad Lishka isn't present. She's in another completely different room. So you won't be able to kill her as it is. No vibrations in the floor besides those made by the ones actually in it. Jubilee's hand passes right through her, just like Terry fell through the bed. Again, she speaks, "Don't worry about them. I think this is a room only me and you will actually be in. Perhaps it's part of the way the room is. The way I guess, this must be your desire." Again, Jono sees and hears a perfect Paige imitation and the team just sees and hears Lishka. She glides closer to him, and tilts her head slightly. "Jonothon... why don't you zip down your jacket? I think it is such a shame you always have to hide behind it." Of course, the words are slightly changed to be more Paige-like for Jono. The brit looks a bit confused. Last he knew, Paige was gonna browbeat him for running off. He still tries to get a feel for the rest of the crowd, as he moves to unzip the jacket slightly, (~~...s'jus' m'en'rgy, luv...~~) he says, backing away, uncomfortable. He thinks that this is some freaky fear thing, and Paige is gonna go psycho on him. grrr! Grrrr grrrr grrr! PAige is *so* not pleased! She folds her arms over her chest, and GLOWERS at Lishka. "Y' so dead when we get outta heah." She growls. Jono!? DREAM about that BITCH!??! Jubilee frowns as she stands up and looks over to Paige. "Cool your jets, will ya? I don't think he see's Lishka. I think he see's /you/, Paige. She's screwing with us again. Jono isn't here, Lishka isn't here.. That might not even be the real /Jono/. She's seperating us because we get through this faster /together/." "Y' na' Paige.. maybe he's in a room watchin' y' sleep with Teiman," Terry slides her hands into her pockets, "This is an illusion after all." Surprise, surprise. What Jono unzips isn't energy. It's flesh and blood. And he can feel it. Lishka is going all out here. Triggering senses that Jono has likely forgotten. Lishka - or Paige as Jono sees her - continues forward until she's within arms length. She reaches up and lays a hand on Jono's chest - and he feels that too - and says softly, "Doesn't look like energy to me... Trust me, and unzip it all the way. You do trust me don't you?" Oh, Lishka is so enjoying this room. She knows this is bothering the -hell- out of Paige, and she just loves targeting Paige as well. Mostly because of the fact that she has what Lishka wants. Human love. Even when he speaks in his telepathic voice, she modifies it so that he really hears it as well. He still has his telepathy, but now it sounds like a real voice as well as a telepathic one. It's so hard to change that fact, so Lishka hasn't bothered wasting too much energy on this one room. She's saving everything for the last room... Her Wild Card - one could say. Oh. My. God. OHMIGOD. Well, Jono's got a jaw now - and Paige's is slack. Pick up your jaw, Paigey! Gowon! You can do it. "Mah gawd." She manages. "He's cute." is the next thing. Strong jaw, nice lips, no scars... Ahem! Make no mistake, Paige has good taste. She runs a hand through her hair, and says, "IF that BITCH lays her HANDS-" Or anything else "On him, she's a DEAD woman." She folds her arms over her chest, her jaw tightening, and then just... waits. Jaw, Meet floor. Jubilee does pretty much the same thing Paige does, at the same time. Jaw drops, eyes widen, and drooling commences. Hey, she may be in love with Ev, but she's not DEAD! "Whoa." After Paige says He's cute, Jube mutters "You can say that again." He's a babe! "Who'da thought.. Furnace Face.." Jube blinks and shakes it off, picking up her jaw and forcing her eyes away from Jono. "Uh.. Um. Damn. I'm sure he.. uh.. won't like.. fall for it, Paige. I mean, why would you paw him here when you're trying to get out of here? If he's got any brain cells he'll figure it out." Terry rubs her jaw, "Damn Paige... tha's yuirs?" She blinks, "S' his fantasy is t' be normal fer y'?" Blink. Blink. Blink again. Lips. A jaw. Chest. "My... god..." Jono 'mutters', as the zipper is opened completely. He moves back, brushing 'Paige's hand away, his own hands moving to it, "..wot... wot...?" he stammers. There's a slightly smug smile that the other's see, but not Jono. All Jono sees is a very happy Paige. "See? I knew you would trust me." She reaches up, and gently tries to touch the edge of his jaw. Now how is Lishka containing the power within Jono? Difficult to explain, but the easiest way to do it is the fact that Jono never actually zipped down his jacket. It just looks, feels and sounds like he did. The powers are still kept down under the jacket and hidden away. He can still feel the force inside him, but he doesn't feel it trying to tear him apart. Lucky lad. "You look very handsome, you know that? Perhaps you need a mirror to see it." Blink. Blink. This is what he's dreamed of. A body! A real body! And Paige! But something nags at Jono, "B.b.but we were tryin' t'get out o'th't'wer...`ow did I get a b'dy?" GAH! HISS! HISS! HISS! "Oh, y' so dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. *DEAD*." Paige's blue eyes are alight with rage - that 'I'm this close from snapping violently and rending Lishka limb from limb' rage. "Ya fuckin' slut Ah'm gonna melt ya down and ... an... an... Oooo!!!" Just LISTEN to the frustration! The rage! Oh, Paige is SO pissed. She shoots Jubilee a glance, the reads, 'He's mine, you thieving little tramp.' Protective? Jealous? You betcha. Only she's allowed to mentally cheat. (Such double standards) Then, she returns that Gaze Of Doom(TM) to Lishka. Jubilee steps back as soon as Paige turns that glare to her, hands raising in that 'He's aaaaalll yours and I have absolutly NO intrest in him WHATSOEVER'. Which is true. She's got Ev. But she wouldn't be a 16 year old teenage girl if she didn't give a /little/ responce to such a hot guy. But for the sake of keeping the peace, she'll make every effort to repress such responces in the future. "He won't fall for it, Paige." she speaks up reassuringly, "Look at him. He's already doubting it. And when this is all over.. Save a piece of the bitch for me." Terry covers her eyes she is not going to watch Lishka and Jono go at it, "Just let me know when he tries to blow her t' pieces." Lishka just runs a finger along Jono's jaw, sending an extra amount of touch feeling into him through her illusionary powers. She lowers her voice, actually making it sound husky and deep. "We're still in the Tower. This is your desire, is it not? We can stay here, together, for all time. We don't need anyone else. We'll have each other. Isn't that what you've always wanted? You never cared if everyone else got home after all." Don't worry, this scene will remain PG-13 rated. He jerks back, like the touch burned him, his hand jerking to his cheek. Jono mutters "But.. I thot w'w'nted t'get out?" he stammers, blinking at 'Paige'. He licks his lips.. they feel real... this is what he wants.. half of him wants to grab Paige, and put those lips to use.. but the other half is suspicious of this.. they were in the tower.. and they wanted out.. and something else.. about desire.. Hell, PAIGE wants to grab Jono and put those lips to use. But no. "C'mon, darlin'..." she murmurs, as if willing what strength and love she has for the battered (and currently whole) psi. "Dammit, Jon'thin..." Jubilee frowns a little as her eyes dart between Lishka, Jono, and Paige, and Jube steps back a little until her back is against the wall. Not much she can do here.. Terry settles back onto the floor she seems to be in the same sort of situation that Jubilee is in. She just watches. Lishka only shrugs slightly, "Yes, I wanted to get out. Who would want to stay in this hell hole for long? No one. Not even me. But... if we leave here... you'll.." She trails off. "Now don't get me wrong, I adore you the way you always have been, but this may be your only chance to..." She trails off, looking a little nervous. But only to Jono. Lishka doesn't look nervous. She looks determined. She's gonna get one kiss if it's the last thing she does. Ev won't give it to her, so she'll steal it from someone else. Her mind tells her it would have been so much easier to get the kiss from Sam, because she's already gained full access to him, but this way is just so more tempting. Because this -is- Jono's desire. To be whole. And to be whole for his Paige. So she's giving it to him. If she is fudging the Paige part a little. Think, Jono, think.. there's something wrong with this. He looks at himself in the mirror, rubbing his fingers over the scrawny goatee. Think, Jono. Desire, desire.. but Paige wanted so much to get out of here.. Yeah! Think! Paige wants to go home! Right now! Paige just... growls and sighs softly. And then drops on the floor, sitting with her back with Jono. "Ah don't wanna watch this." She says softly. Terry reaches out and plants a hand on Paige's shoulder, "Y' made it through lass, he'll d' it t' fer all he's a ruddy idiot english tosser.." She gives a quick wink. Lishka tilts her head, and sighs, whispering, "This is about Everett isn't it? I don't love Everett. I love -you-." Oh boy. This is totally a lie, but it's the truth for the form she's chosen for Jono to see. She takes a breath and gives it a final try before she's gonna give up on this. She'd take a kiss by force, if she could, but she can't. He has to kiss her first. "Don't you love me?" Hehehehehehehehe. She even does a little sad 'Paige'ish look. He moves towards her, his arms slipping around Paige to draw her close to his "real" chest, his eyes softening when he hears the words he thinks Paige speaks, the words he wants to hear. His new lips curl into a smile, "..no, its not about Everett... I love you too, Paige.." he says, leaning forwards. At least he won't damn himself too much. And Paige had just looked up and back with Terry's hand on her shoulder. And then her blue eyes zero in on Lishka getting her man, and she goes sheet white. It's hard to imagine that he's seeing Paige, no matter what he's saying, and seeing that bitch in his arms. He's HERS Goddammnit! HERS! HERS! And then she just buries her face in her knees. That's supposed be HER Goddamn it! Not Lishka! Jubilee watches Jono give the smoocher to Lishka and narrows you eyes. "You dumb faceless fuck!" she blurts out, taking off one of her flats and flinging it at Jono. Illusion or not, it'll make her /feel/ better. Figures. We get THIS far and Furnace Face screws it up!! "It's LISHKA! Not PAIGE!!" She doesn't care if he can't hear, either. Hehehehehe. Lishka's getting her first kiss here, and she's intent to enjoy it. It's the strangest sensation to her. Truely. She'd never imagined it would feel so... strange. And of course, the strangness of the thing breaks her consentration on masking her psionic signature. So Jono feels why "Paige" felt so strange. And the visual illusion of Lishka being Paige has even desolved. This is the final straw of the whole thing. She's aiming to hit below the belt. Letting Jono know who he's kissing will hurt him a lot, and she so loves that idea. Show these creatures pain as they have never felt before. Pain that she herself has felt for a very long time. But no, they aren't stuck here forever. Lishka doesn't really want you to get stuck on this floor. She's been working so hard on her Wild Card. The next room. She won't let this ruin it. As he kisses "Paige", he feels something change. That presence.. his eyes fly open, to see just who he is kissing... (~~..LISHKA!!!~~) he roars mentally, pushing her away as he lets loose with his wildcard, the energies he's saved since their last encounter. Assuming that this is a real illusion, the rest of the group gets a 'slow-mo' image of Jono's chest bubbling and bursting out, leather ripping as a huge blast of energy is unleashed, a psionic malestrom flaring up around him as he lets loose. One doesn't fuck with the Londoner's emotions and expect to get away free. Well, when Paige hears that roar, she whips her head around. "Hwah?" And then see's Jono go BOOM real good. "NO! OH YOU STUPID FUCK! DON'T YA GUNNA LOSE MOAH SKIN IF YA DO THAT!" Her voice is frenzied with fear - the chances of Jono permanently damaging himself with a blast like that are high - and scare her to death, even if she's angry at him for giving in. Jubilee buhLINKS as she watches Jono.. um.. blast away at Lishka. Whoa. Mega whoa. Her eyes widen again and she drops her jaw, just.. dumbstruck. Gezzus christ. ... HEY! "OhmigawdJonoDon'tKillHer!!!" We'll never get out of here!!! Jube is paniced too. Just not for the same reason.. Terry yells, but isn't you know *yelling*, "Jono no no no no!" Lishka was expecting this - even if it's stronger then she expected - and doesn't fight against it. She lets it hit her, and allows it to fling her across the room, slamming her against the wall. The illusion ripples around from her point of impact in the wall and then the entire thing fades. Along with Lishka. She's done here. She's done what she meant to do. And Jono has finished his room. And he's back in the room with the team, standing exactly where he was, his new face and chest gone. There's a door open across the room, but there is a sign above it, "Do not proceed until you are prepared. This is the final illusionary room, and hense, the hardest. None of the previous will compare to this one. I advise you all rest. - Lishka" She's still alive. She just may need a few minutes to recover. And a lot of runes. Well, thats fine and good for Lishka, but not for Jono. As the image fades, Jono drops to his knees, (~~...Paige... I'm...s'rry...~~) he says, his hands on his thighs to hold him up. The energy rages, looking dangerously low, as his head turns down in shame. Well, Paige is scrambling over, and without a care to Jono's emotional state, goes to check on his physical one. "Shuddap, ya stupid son of a bitch." She hisses, pushing back the tatters of his leathers. "Ya could triggered the rest of y' transformation. Wouldn't be much point of goin' home if y' freed yoahself from y' 'flesh coccoon." She snaps. No, she's not going to spare his feelings about it right now, either. However, she is going to make sure that he's not missing anymore skin - and then inspects the cracks and tears along it. "Y' ain't missin' anythin', but you're fucked foah a while." And then she rises coldly - and resists the impulse to beat him for his stupidity. Instead, she stalks over to a corner - and as she passed, sharply kicks an illusionary guitar. If just to make herself feel better. After all, she gave it to him - and he treats it as if it's as preciously as he does her. But, well, she dosen't feel very precious right now, and that gift means very little. So she just ... curls up, and refuses to look at most ANYONE. And Jube? She has little emotion invested in Jono aside from the consern of one human being to another.. but still, he gets very little of her attention (none, infact) as Jube's eyes look up to that sign above the doorway.. and sheer terror clutches to her heart. That's it. That's everyone. Terry, Gwen, Sam, Will, Paige, Jono, Rahne.. Everyone. Except Jube. The last room.. the hardest room.. is hers.. It's a great credit to Jubilee's self control (or ability to hide her true emotions) that she doesn't burst into tears or tremble in fear uncontrolably. Still, if Jono was a true telepath, he'd be bombarded by all the emotions which have claimed a firm grip on the chinese- american mall-rat. She leans back against the wall and crosses her arms over her chest, hands holding onto her shoulders firmly so her arms are in that pose you see corpses in. You know what I mean. She just quietly looks at the sign above the doorway and waits, focusing on her breathing, telling herself it won't be as bad as she thinks it will be.. she'll get through it.. she's come this far in her life, and she won't let this bitch stop her, or break her. Not /now/. Terry stands up, she glances to Jubilee. She knows it too. The redhead tilts her head. She was first and Jubilee helped her, Jube is last. She walks to the girl, "Lass, yuir na' goin' t' be alone in there." She looks determined and supportive. All her friends are going to make it through this. Jono tried to fight, but couldn't see through it, and kissed who he thought was Paige. But it was Lishka, and she dropped the veil. Jono opened up a can of whoopass, knocked Lishka clear into Jubes room, collapses, and just got psychologically nutkicked by Paige" Jono shudders. Paige might have well kicked him in the guts he used to have. He curls his arms around his gaping chest, trying to gather the tatters of the jacket around his weak form, barely able to keep upright, (~~...Paige....th'ght sh'w's y'...d'dn't kn'w..th't w't I w'nt'd...t'b'ble t'kiss you...~~) he mumbles as he falls forwards, not even reaching to stop his fall as he collapses, emotionally and physically spent. Well, he did say 'I love you, Paige' Sorry, no way. She's not going to g... Oh, fuck. Paige takes one look at her crumbled psi, and slowly drags herself over, pulling him up into her lap. "Ah know." She says, cradling his fallen form. "But ya gotta get bettah so we can get outta heah. Then..." Well, she dosen't know what happens after there. She's angry and hurt and torn. And she just wants to be *out* of here. But if this moment of comfort will get Jono on his feet and moving again, then so be it. Jubilee glances over to Terry and smiles just a bit, trying to give that 'What? I'm okay! Honest!' impression which isn't working too well by now. Finally, she turns and sits herself down in another corner, curling up nice and comfortable (yeah right) to rest a little.. both mentally and physically.. before they move on. And rest she does, slipping into some state of consciousness between sleeping and waking while everyone tends to their own wounds, and Jubilee prepares to receieve her own. Or have then re-opened.. she's not sure which. When the time finally comes to move on, she uncurls herself and pulls herself up to her feet, a determination on her face which belies her inner fear of what lays beyond that doorway. "C'mon guys. Lets get going. We wanna get this over with." She makes it sound like she doesn't care. It'll just be another day in the life of Jubilation Lee. She's a better actress then most give her credit for.. Terry wrinkles her nose as the Jubester's little-tough-guy slash Logan's sidekick stiff upper lip appears. She just nods and slides her hands into her pockets. And where's Sammy boy through all this? He's just scampering around, distraught just as much as everyone else. He needs to be everywhere at once, but sadly can only be in one spot. "Jube, you'll be fahne, she's jus' tryin' ta scare ya. We'll be raght at yoah side..." He gives a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder, the best he can offer at this point. A look of worry is given to Jono as he crumbles to the floor, Sam quickly stepping over to his side to converse with his sister. "Paige...Ah dunna lahke this...his powah's wear 'im out too much." A sharp sigh escapes his lips as he stays crouched over Jono, a worry streaked face. And so time passes, the group pacing about the room, all anticipating the present and the future. Jono does manage to get better, but it's not exactly a remarkable improvement. When they all agree to move on, the Brit leans heavily on Paige, needing her for physical support. Sam's up near the front as they head for the arch, at Jubilee's side as they move on, offering up some encouraging words. "Terrah, take ovah foah Paige when she needs help with Jono, will ya? N' everyone try n' keep Jono out o' this room, he needs his rest." He'll watch over Jube's, helping her out if it does come to the Asian girl having a breakdown. Oi, he doesn't want it to come to that...