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#2
MAR 09 |
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“Hunting Party”
Brazil
“Body’s still warm. He died just a little while ago.”
The X-Man known as Wolverine stood up from the corpse of the Brazilian man he had just found and took several steps away. He was there with Storm and Psylocke, two of his fellow X-Men, tracking a group of suspected Weapon X operatives. They were inside a large villa just outside the Amazon rainforest, owned by a wealthy Brazilian diplomat…a dead, wealthy Brazilian diplomat.
“The team must have sprung on them while they were hosting a party,” Storm said.
“And they kept a couple people alive to torture,” Logan growled. He popped one of his Adamantium claws from his right hand, crouched down and speared a small chunk of fabric. He raised it to his face and sniffed.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled. “Definitely Weapon X. Creed’s scent is all over the place. I should have figured he wouldn’t stay dead.”
“They slaughtered them,” Psylocke muttered, feeling the psychic residue of the victims, “just because they were in the same room as their target.”
“That’s Creed for you,” Logan growled. “Dirty bastard.” He stood again and held up the fabric. “This is from one of the Weapon X team. Whoever it is, he’s wounded. The kids must have done it.”
Storm walked up to him. “Does this give enough of a scent to track them?” she asked.
“‘Ro, hun, I could track Creed any time. I already knew which way they went, I just wanted t’ see how many we were up against.”
“And...?” Psylocke asked.
“Five man team,” he said. “I can recognize Creed and Avalanche’s scents.” Logan sheathed his claw.
“Luv, those are odds I like,” Betsy said. Truthfully, she was as anxious to face Creed as Logan was. Sabretooth had nearly killed her and he held a great responsibility for the all the trauma surrounding her Crimson Dawn abilities. It was because of the Crimson Dawn that Psylocke felt her relationship with Warren came to an end. Yes, there was much she had to pay Creed back for.
Logan must have picked up the scowl on her face. A good friend like Logan could pick out your mood in a moment. “This isn’t about Creed, Betsy. We’re here to rescue my kids.”
Storm walked forward. “That’s something you never explained, Logan. You knew you had kids all this time and never said anything?”
Shaking his head, Logan said, “Not until recently did I even remember them. I’ve been doing a lot more treatments with Chuck recently and he was finally able to help me sift through my memories that were bullshit.”
“And you didn’t want to reach out to them?”
“I figured they were better off without me,” Logan said, taking in the scene of carnage around him. “Looks like I was wrong.”
The Hellfire Club
Sunset Bain crossed her legs and took a sip of Moscato. A small black skirt hugged her thighs and white business jacket fit under her chest just precisely. She had long, straight brown hair and not a single strand hung out of place. While beautiful, her beauty was of a cold nature. It was stunning but in the way that gazing out into the Alaskan landscape was. You saw something dazzling, but knew that it could swallow you whole.
“I wonder if Sebastian knows what he’s doing. Revealing Project Glimmer to DaCosta could be very costly. The boy hasn’t convinced me yet that he’s a turncoat.”
Scribe, a pink-haired mutant from London, shared in a sip of wine. “Who knows with these X-Men types? The sods seem to switch sides at the drop of a dime. But I trust Sebastian; the man has not maintained his power this long by being stupid.”
Tracing a finger along the edge of her glass, Sunset said, “Yes, but he has been deceived in the past. Look at Emma Frost and Tessa Niles for no further proof of that. I believe he’s hoping to corrupt DaCosta and make him a true traitor to the X-Men. That could blow up in his face.”
“As with any plan the Inner Circle puts together,” Scribe said. “Honestly, I’m more uncomfortable about this exchange that is to occur with Mr. Sinister. If there is any man we should be careful about dealing with, it’s him.”
“At least Sinister’s morals align more with my own,” Sunset Bain said. “He may be a risky person to invest in, but at least with Sinister you know the rewards will be great.”
Odysseus Indigo walked into the room stroking the large gold ring on his finger. He was a purple-skinned Deviant with a large frame and the physical appearance of an Orc from a Tolkien novel. So it was even stranger to see such a figure in expensive Italian suits, but Indigo had quite a deal of personal wealth. As the leader of the Damocles Foundation, he ran an organization that brought him quite the large sum of profits through genetic research in a variety of fields.
“Sinister is a powerfully interesting figure that makes our deal with him all the more intriguing. I look forward to what our negotiations with him will bring,” Indigo said as he stroked the diamond tip of his cane. His work at the Damocles Foundation was right in line with the kind of work that Sinister performed. “If Shaw is going into negotiations with the man then I am sure it is for the benefit of the Hellfire Club.”
Sunset turned her nose up at him. She found his appearance to be absolutely appalling. “I have no doubt that Shaw works for our benefit, but he’s an arrogant man and arrogant men sometimes don’t realize they’re being blindsided until it’s too late.”
Odysseus smiled with a row of sharp teeth. “You’re talking about DaCosta, aren’t you?” Odysseus had his own experiences with the young man and his mutant friends in X-Force. Sunspot still scowled every time they crossed paths, but Odysseus hardly expected a grin; he had tried to kill him after all. “Shaw knows how to handle DaCosta. The boy is rich, not clever.”
Scribe swished the wine in her cup. “He has the X-Men as friends. That’s enough.”
Brazil
Night was falling quickly in Brazil. Logan had been tracking for hours and the trail didn’t seem to be closing any. Ororo could sense Logan’s frustration and she stopped him. She had seen how protective Logan was of his surrogate children, Shadowcat and Jubilee, so she could only imagine the fury that beat in his heart for his actual children. But exhausting themselves wasn’t going to help them any when they finally did come across the children.
“We will find them, Logan, but we’ll need our strength when we get there,” Ororo said, half out of breath.
“Yeah,” Psylocke gasped, resting her hands on her knees. “This...is...a good...workout.”
Storm smiled. “Glad to see I am not the only one.”
“Shhh...” Logan moved quietly to their sides suddenly. It always stunned Ororo how swiftly Logan was able to move when he wanted to; it was little wonder that he served Weapon X and the CIA as one of their most prominent killers. As gentle a soul as Logan was, he truly had the markings of a warrior. He looked up to her and said, “I’ve got them and it’s not good either.”
“What do you mean, Logan?”
“Sabes brought a special team. ‘Ro, get the wind blowing towards us, keep Sabretooth from smelling us.” He held his finger to his lips and motioned for them to follow him. Storm and Psylocke expertly followed Logan’s steps as he led them to a nearby clearing.
Once they could see into it, Ororo eyed her opponents fiercely. “Heaven above...” she muttered.
Sabretooth stood in the middle of the clearing, standing directly above the young woman that they’d captured. Feral perched above Creed, her head moving back and forth in snappy movements in time with the young black mutant known as Tempo, who paced back and forth before Feral nervously. Arclight and Avalanche stood at the edge of the clearing, whispering quietly. Everyone had a healthy respect of Sabretooth and gave him plenty of space to deal with the young woman.
“You want to kick my ass, don’t you, kid?” Creed growled. “You’re pissed about what’s happened to your older brother, ain’t ya? You just want to pull yourself off the ground and run me through, just like your little runt of a pop.”
Logan growled softly, causing Storm to place a hand on his shoulder. After several seconds his growl stopped and he glanced at her and nodded.
“I’m going to kill you,” the young woman said. “I’m going to kill every one of you.”
“I’d like to see you try, kid,” Feral hissed.
Logan looked over his shoulder and whispered. “‘Ro, I need the biggest flash-bang you can muster without hitting her. Then, I need you two to grab her and get back to the jet as fast as you can. Give me two hours, then leave.”
“What about you?” Betsy asked. She wasn’t happy being left out of the potential fighting. There was a katana in her hands with Creed’s name on it.
“Betts,” he grinned, “I’ve been dealing with these sons of bitches all my life. I’ll get back to you okay.”
Ororo nodded. She knew Logan and she trusted him. He would make it back, whether it was on the jet with them or two weeks later after swimming across the Gulf of Mexico and hitchhiking across the southern United States. In fact, Wolverine probably would prefer the latter.
“Cover your ears and keep your heads down,” she said. “I am sure Sabretooth himself is the best lightning rod I could ask for.” She drew herself up to her full height and her eyes began to glow. The wind around them began blowing harder and the air started to crackle with electricity. Psylocke felt the goose bumps starting to rise with the fine hairs on her forearms. She looked up and saw Wolverine charging into the clearing.
*SNIKT*
“CREEEEEED!” he bellowed as the lightning broke the sky in two and struck Sabretooth and Feral simultaneously. Psylocke acted quickly, taking two quick steps and leaping into the air, held aloft by her telekinesis. She landed in front of Tempo and drove a psyhic dagger into her forehead. Grabbing the unconscious Tempo by the arm, she flipped her into Avalanche. After the bodies collided together, Psylocke flipped backwards and planted both of her feet in Arclight’s forehead. The collision tumbled Arclight away and sent her crashing into the thick grass of the Amazon.
“Dad?” muttered the young woman. She looked intently at the man she had only ever seen in photos. Her mother split from her father not long after the birth of herself and her brother. She never dreamed to meet the man in person.
“Laura!” Logan growled. “Follow her, now!” She was shocked again, this time by the fact that Logan knew his name. “GO!” Laura Logan stared at her father for a moment before breaking into a sprint. She had no idea how her father even knew her name. Now she didn’t want to know what to think.
All she knew was she needed to run. Finding out what happened to her brother would have to wait.
Cable leaned against the Danger Room wall, his mind open to the surface thoughts of everyone in the Mansion with the exception of Charles and Emma. A telepath always saw so much more than the average person. Every time they lied, he saw the truth. He saw the full details of every experience, including the important details they left out. For a soldier, that kind of information was crucial. Being telepaths was part of the reason the Askani had proven so successful against the forces of Apocalypse in the 40th century. Telepathy truly was one of the greater mutant gifts.
Nathan, we have a problem.
He stood up straight at the sound of Charles’ telepathic voice. Having finished his Danger Room exercise, Cable put back his gun into its holster, strode out of the gym and headed toward the school’s communications center.
Talk to me.
Roberto and Karima have learned about Project Glimmer. It centers around a mutant that we all believed dead.
Cable felt the tingle at the back of his head as Xavier filled his mind with information about the mutant known as Blink. Apparently she was almost a member of Generation X but sacrificed herself to stop the Phalanx entity known as Harvest. Everyone believed her to be dead, but she was at the center of Project Glimmer. Could this possibly be a trans-dimensional version of the mutant?
It’s possible. We can’t say for sure, but we have to rescue the young woman regardless.
Cable walked into the comm center where Xavier, Frost and Worthington were all seated. Xavier nodded at his presence and Cable sat down next to him. “So how are we going to handle this? We rescue this mutant and we blow Roberto’s cover. You know that right?”
“Or maybe not,” Warren said. “There might be a way to spin this double agent thing. Roberto can play like we found out he was betraying us and we took the information from him.”
“That’s too damn risky,” Cable replied, short and to the point. “Just because Tessa worked as a plant doesn’t mean Roberto can.”
“And not knowing about this new Inner Circle is just as much a risk,” Emma said. “We may just have to keep Blink where she’s at.”
“No, Emma, I refuse to leave a mutant suffering just so we can continue to get information. And I won’t risk Roberto and Karima any further either. They’ll help us get Blink to safety and then he’s done with this spying business. I worried for years about Tessa; I won’t do the same with Roberto,” Charles said.
“So we do it like this then” Cable replied. “I need Rogue and Emma with me. Emma can help with any standard Hellfire protocols and procedures, making our access to the Glimmer base easier. Roberto and Karima will work with us to rescue Blink and then we all get out together.”
Xavier nodded. “A solid, simple plan. Just be careful and don’t take any unnecessary risks.”
Emma folded her arms across her chest. “Oh yes, I’m sure Sebastian will be absolutely delighted to see me.”
Brazil
Betsy stopped as the X-Jet came into view. She lowered herself carefully to the ground and set the girl on it next to her. It appeared the girl had inherited Logan’s powers; her various wounds had sealed up and mostly healed and the few bruises she had suffered had faded. The underbrush behind her began shaking and Betsy spun, ready to pounce. Storm erupted from the trees, breathing heavily.
“Are you okay?” Betsy asked.
Storm nodded and looked down at Logan’s daughter. “What’s your name child?”
The girl’s eyes narrowed. “My name is Laura,” she said popping out a claw to Storm and Psylocke’s shock. She used it to trace in the dirt. “We never knew our father. Apparently he knew us, though.”
“It is a far more complicate matter than you think, child,” Storm said.
“Our mother showed us pictures of him,” Laura said, “and she claimed he was forced away from her before he ever knew she was pregnant. But he knew my name so I’m going back there and I’m getting him back. Then I’m getting answers.” With that, Laura spun and disappeared back into the jungle.
“Goddess,” Storm murmured. “She is every bit her father.”
Betsy let out an exasperated laughed. “Tell me about it.”
Both women took off back into the jungle.
Shaw had brought Odysseus, Madylene and Ozymandias with him to meet Mr. Sinister in the spot the geneticist had requested, a small abandoned orphanage in a suburb outside of Philadelphia. Sebastian didn’t like being forced to meet Sinister on his terms but what he was about to receive from Sinister was too good an opportunity to pass up. There were slots in his new Inner Circle that had yet to be filled and Sinister was about to deliver him his Red Bishop.
The inside of the orphanage was musty, full of cobwebs and lacked any sort of furniture. It was hauntingly empty and it made Sebastian wonder why Sinister chose this place. What significance did it hold for him?
A laugh echoed from the darkness. “No significance, Shaw. I just love places where children congregate. They are the seeds of the future after all.”
“How did–”
“I am a telepath after all,” Sinister smirked as he stepped out of the darkness. “It does my heart well to see you came.”
“Only because you promised me a weapon, something that could serve my Inner Circle,” Sebastian said, searching the room for any sort of trap. He knew that Madylene and Ozymandias were doing it as well.
Odysseus rested his weight on his cane and said, “I have always been an admirer of your work, Sinister.”
“And yours is…economical enough,” Sinister replied and turned his attention back to Shaw. “What I am delivering to you is something precious to me. Use it as you will, but promise that you will look after it.”
Sebastian took a moment to consider Sinister’s words. “Show me what this precious thing is first and I’ll decide exactly how much care I want to show it.”
“And if you dare produce a trick I’ll remove your head,” Ozymandias warned. Both him and Sinister had once been servants of Apocalypse, but the Egyptian never cared for Sinister being in the service of En Sabah Nur. They both shared a contentious relationship with Apocalypse, but something about Sinister screamed deception and backstabbing. He had urged Shaw to avoid this meeting, but if it had to happen he was damn sure going to be on his guard.
“You need not warn me, Ozymandias. I remember your history as a warlord well,” Sinister smirked as he turned his head back to the darkness. “Come out child.”
A woman stepped out of the darkness moving with a seductive sway. She had a petite waist, large breasts and long legs. Black hair flowed down her back and Sebastian could only imagine how much of it there would be if she didn’t have it in a ponytail. But those were the least of the woman’s features. What was most startling about her was her chalk white skin and the red diamond that was centered on her forehead.
She walked up to Sebastian and held out her hand for him. Not wanting to see overly shocked, he took the hand and kissed it. “To whom do I owe the pleasure?”
“My name is Claudine Renko, courtesy of my father. But you can call me Miss Sinister.”
Essex moved up to the woman’s side, taking in the looks of shock that the Hellfire Club members were trying so hard to keep off their faces. “This, my dear Sebastian, is my daughter. So again, can I expect you to properly look after her?”
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To Be Continued...
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