1. The Rooster's Crown

Westchester County, woods near a large house

Night

A man runs through the woods, followed only by the sound of his panting and his footsteps. Pant, thud-thud, pant thud-thud, pant thud-thud. He swerves around trees, wishing he didn't have such a big yard. People had to be told. He remembered earlier that night. When they'd arrived.

Westchester County, outside the same house

Earlier that night

Four figures skulked in the woods outside a large manor, wearing form fitting lightweight body armor. By complete chance, the manor was only a short distance from that owned by notorious mutant rights activist. It was the same style, the same type of owners. Old money. Family money. "Domino, the house is too lit up. You have to tell us what your plan is; otherwise we're all going to get caught," a man said, speaking in a hushed whisper. "These places all have security now, compensation for flyers as well. Its not going to be me carrying you all to the roof one at a time," he whispered angrily. His French accent got stronger when he was angry. Two figures stood slightly off to the side. The final figure, a woman, leant against a tree nonchalantly, barely listening to the tirade being directed her way. "Neena, we." The man started again but flinched back when the woman turned. "Shut up. Now. We got in. I hear any more objections and we come out with less people. Understand?" she snapped. "Blink, do it now.". One of the figures off to the side turned and walked to her. "Ok, Domino, whatever you say.". All four figures gathered together and suddenly, they vanished with only the tiniest sound. The night was silent except for the insects.

Senator Jason "The Rooster" Cockrum reclined in his study. A hard day's work well done. That silly little mutant rights bill that Xavier's pet senator had managed to get through was going to be shot down tomorrow. It was very close but Kelly had made sure that, with his support, it wouldn't pass. Cockrum was not an elderly man, about 40 and showing the signs of muscle going to fat. Thank God the kids and Martha were away. He didn't think he could take any more of the boys' damn fighting. He'd have to try and sort some of that out when they got back from Aspen. Oh well, enough for tonight. He'd go to bed, secure in the knowledge that he'd done his duty to his constituents. A pity Martha wasn't home. The latest nip and tuck she'd had done had done wonders for her. Absolute wonders. Jason Cockrum walked out of his office passing down the halls of his family's house, heading for bed.

The four figures from outside blinked into a room. Immediately, all four turned, looking for threats. Seeing none, the others turned to Domino. She looked around the boy's bedroom. "Good. Blink, check he's asleep." The pink girl nodded and slipped into the hallway outside, not making a sound. Blink walked down the hall. She sometimes wondered why she worked with Domino. Domino was not a nice person. Domino did bad things and Blink realised that she would have been shocked at what the four of them were trying to do here tonight, had it been the Blink of a year ago. Now, it was normal. Blink sighed to herself. Sometimes things changed. Sometimes people changed a lot. Checking her memory of where the senator's bedroom was located, she stopped for a moment, listening. Hearing no noise, she slid a knife under the door seeing what she could in the reflection. Good. No movement. No noise. She opened the door slightly, enough to see the senator sleeping soundly in bed. Good. Domino would be happy. As Blink returned to the Sentaor's son's bedroom, she wondered when pleasing Domino had become one of the most important things in her life. Then she remembered what'd happened with Leech and crept back to the kid's bedroom. Very quietly. She remembered exactly what had happened and she knew exactly when pleasing Domino had become so important.

Blink slipped back into the bedroom. "He's asleep," she reported quietly.

"Excellent. Let's go." The other three figures moved towards the door, joining Blink in the corridor. Walking quietly in the opposite direction to the senator's bedroom, they crept down the stairs. Splitting into two groups, Domino going in one direction, the others in another, they headed off.

Westchester,

That Night

The man continued to run through the woods. Pant thud-thud, pant thud-thud, pant thud-thud, pant thud-thud. He was slowing now. He wasn't as fit as he used to be. He heard a snarl from somewhere behind him. They were gaining. He didn't have much time. Pant thud-thud, pant thud-thud, he ran again. They were gaining but someone had to be told.

Westchester County,

Earlier that night……

Domino walked down the hall. The office should be…here. Opening the door, Domino flicked on the light, bathing the room in a soft glow from two lamps on the desk. The office of the Senator Jason Cockrum, representative of the people. Domino snorted. Representative of the humans. Moron. This man deserved this. She rarely had problems accepting a mission and this one certainly didn't qualify. It was practically routine. Her employer was a small surprise but after a moment's thought, the motivation became clear. If mutants were registered, people would start to notice when they disappeared. There might also be other side affects. Domino stopped that train of thought instantly. If you were a mercenary, especially of the kind she and the Crew were, then speculation was not a healthy thing. Those that couldn't control their interest tended to catch terminal cases of dead. Reaching under her armour, Domino pulled out the papers. She put them on Senator Jason Cockrum, representative of the people's desk where they might have been left by someone exhausted after a night's hard work. Then, she began to rifle through the papers. There better not be anything that contradicted the very carefully worded papers. Besides, there was always a market for the kind of information you could pick up from a senator, just as long as you knew the right buyer. Reading on, Domino sighed in disgust. These people. The things they were funding. It revolted her. The others better be doing what they were here for. Otherwise she would not be happy.

The other three people, Clarice Ferguson, Jean-Paul Beaubier and Maria Callasantos, walked down the corridor away from
Domino. They reached the great room and, quickly opening the sack Maria had carried all night, brought out spray cans, crowbars and a machete. Jean Paul took the machete and ran around the room, smashing furniture and destroying everything he could. Maria and Blink took the crowbars and began to destroy furniture too. Without speaking, they finished, each girl doing a corner while Jean-Paul did the rest. Returning to the sack, they grabbed the spray paint and began spraying the words "RACE TRAITOR" all over the walls and floor. They were finishing up when Maria cocked her head, listening to something. "Maria?" Blink turned to her, asking what she'd heard but then Blink caught it too. Thud-thud. Someone running down the hallway. That was not Domino. Jean-Paul, on the other side of the enormous room, had not heard. Snapping into the communicator "Jean-Paul hide, quick", Blink grabbed Maria and vanished as the door opened.

Jason Cockrum looked at the ruins of his great room, the pride of his house. His family portraits, his beautiful furniture, all destroyed. Jason dropped the gun he'd been holding to the ground. Who could do this? He'd heard a noise from his bedroom, one that had woken him up. Grabbing the gun he kept beside his bed, he walked downstairs. The boy who worked here, the only other one in the house tonight better not have broken anything. Useless brat. Walking downstairs, he wondered how a burglar had got in. He'd have to find out. There were things in this house that couldn't get out. Opening the great room door however, he could only stare in horror at the ruin that awaited him. He barely noticed the faintest echo of a sound and just stared at the ruin of his family's history. The office! He dropped to his knees, scrabbling for the gun he had brought down and running towards the office. They would be there. If they were anywhere, they would be there.

Domino heard the quick thumps of the Senator's footsteps approaching. No-one on her team would make that noise. Flipping herself backwards, she threw herself under the heavy wood desk. She wouldn't be seen even if she couldn't see what was going on. The door burst open.

Jason Cockrum stared around his office. Nothing looked moved. Wait! He didn't leave papers on his desk. No way. He grabbed the paper, dropping the gun, and started to read. "What?" he yelled out loud, so shocked. They were trying to make him stop the bill by leaving papers on his desk? How was that going to stop him? Sometimes he hated politics. He heard a noise and spun around. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Westchester,

That Night

The man knew he wouldn't get away. They were too close. Not they. She. She was right behind him and if she caught up to him then…. The man ran and behind him, something…someone snarled in the darkness.

Westchester,

Earlier that night

Jono had heard the noise, the Senator running down the stairs, so he climbed out of his cot and opened the door to the tiny cubby that was his room. The Senator and his family thought they were so kind, taking in the poor mutant as a servant. Letting him live in our big fancy house and feeding him and everything. Never mentioning to the press about the stale bread he lived off. Certainly never telling how he was forced to call the Senator "The Senator" every time he spoke to him and had been beaten until he learnt to remember. How one time he got a fever and couldn't move and the Senator's kids had come in and kicked him and kicked him and he'd managed to yell at them and the senator's wife had come and beaten him with a belt. She was a strong woman so that was a dangerous experience. He sometimes wondered why he didn't just run away or even blast them all. He suspected he could kill them before they knew what was happening. But then, he'd had it beaten into him that mutants were worthless and Senators were Good People so it wasn't likely to change now. He hated the Senator and his family, he hated the house. He'd run away from worse but here was better than the streets. Even here, with the beatings and abuse, was better than the streets.

Running through the house in the night was not something you usually heard here though (well, not if the brats were away) so Jono got up to see what it was. He saw the Senator running towards the office, not even noticing Jono. Jono considered going back to bed but this looked interesting enough that he wanted to know. Wandering down the hall, Jono saw the Senator run into his office and suddenly a yell "What?" rang out through the house. Jogging quietly down to the office, Jono saw the Senator was just reading some paper. Suddenly, the Senator whirled to face Jono. Crap. He was in some serious trouble now.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the Senator demanded. "You know you're not allowed out at night.". This little freak was useless as a servant. He had to go. This was a good reason too. Who else would have tried to stop him with an essay on his desk? With his name on it? "Well? Answer me, you useless brat!" Jono was just looking at him. Weird eyes the kid had. It was the jacket, Cockrum decided. The jacket made him look sinister. How did it manage that? Never mind. He was just a kid who'd tested X-gene positive but couldn't protect himself on the streets. Tough luck. "Dammit boy, tell me. Was it you who put this here?" The kid was still just looking at him. What the hell was wrong with him?

Jono just looked at the Senator in amazement. He thought Jono had put those papers there? Jono knew well enough not to go in the Senator's office. He knew well enough not to go out at night, usually. This had been a mistake. "I..I…I don't go in here, Senator," he mumbled. Maybe if he got away, he wouldn't get punished. "I..I haven't seen anyone, Senator. Mrs. Cockrum and the boys do not go into your office. I don't know who could have put it there." Hopefully that would satisfy him. "I'll just go back to my room, Senator," he said. Hopefully, that would be enough.

Cockrum looked at the kid. How dumb did the brat think he was? He'd obviously done it. "Who paid you to put this here? Who? Answer me, boy!" he demanded. Then, he realised in his shock, he'd forgotten the great room. "You filthy little brat! You little ! How dare you destroy my property! How dare you invade where you aren't supposed to be! We thought you knew your place but that's obviously not the case." Reaching back he grabbed the gun on the desk and brought it up, pointing it at the boy's head. He pulled off the safety.

Under the desk, Domino heard the click of a safety being pulled back. This had gone far enough. This would be ruined if Cockrum covered the room in mutie blood. Looks like she had to save the kid. Great. Another person who would remember Domino existed. Problem for later. So Domino flipped herself up onto the desk and kicked Cockrum in the back of the head as he was preparing to fire. Looking over at the filthy bruised kid, she realised that she had no idea where here team was. Pulling her communicator into place, she snapped into it, "Get to the office. Now."

Five minutes later, the team stood in front of Domino silently. You did not interfere with Domino when she a plan went haywire. You just got out of the way and hoped you survived the crossfire. Domino was pacing back and forth along the office, thinking about what to do. Salvage the plan. This shouldn't have happened. Domino suddenly stopped and whipped around. "What about the great room? Did you finish before you were…..interrupted?" she demanded. Jean-Paul nodded but the girls murmered faint "yeses" to Domino. "Show me," she demanded. Striding down the hall, she turned her head to command, "Bring the kid too. Leave the target," They followed to the great room, Domino striding furiously. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Jono crumpled to the ground, clutching his side. They all whipped around to see the Senator standing at the office doorway, smoking gun still in hand. In a fraction of a second, Jean-Paul had the gun on the ground and the Senator pinned while Blink and Maria rushed to Jono. He was clutching his side. Domino, seeing the Senator dealt with, ignored all this and continued on to the great room.

Maria heard the gunshot but felt no pain, so spun around to look for the source. Seeing the Senator standing with the gun, about to fire again, she threw herself to the side, seeing Blink do the same out of the corner of her eye. The stupid boy was still standing there but it was ok because Jean-Paul already had the Senator down. She rolled and jumped up again and saw the Jono boy crumple to the ground. She ran over and Blink hurried over to find him lying on his stomach, convulsing. Blink just looked at him and said, "His spine has been smashed. He's not getting up." Maria looked at him and he looked so small.

Jacob had been so mean. Lucia had been so mean. They were all mean. Only Mamma was nice but Mamma had gone. Jacob told her Mamma had gone to a big place in the sky. But she had her ponies. Her nice ponies. "Neighhhhhh" "Want some grass, pony?" "Your ponies are stupid" There was mean Jacob. "Why do you still play with ponies? You're 12 now. You should have stopped years ago. You need to grow up and be able to protect yourself. Lucia can but you're still playing with ponies. Stupid little girl. Give it to me. Give it to me. Don't hiss at me, you little freak girl, I'm the normal one in the family and without Mamma I have to look after you little mutants. So give me the damn pony!" "No!" Maria had screamed and screamed. He wouldn't take her ponies. He'd pulled but she'd held on and refused to let go. Then, he'd hit her. How she hated to be hit. Everything went red. When she had come to, lying in a pool of red warm water, Jacob hadn't been moving. Lucia had come in and started screaming and Maria hadn't known what was wrong. The neighbours had come in and there had been screaming and yelling and fighting and then there had been Domino.

He looked so small on the ground. Blood trickling out, a veritable flow. So small. Jacob had been big but Jacob looked small on the ground. In a furious rage, one she remembered well, one Maria hated, everything went red and Feral jumped up off the ground and charged towards the Senator. People shouldn't shoot other people. Jacob shouldn't have hit her. She missed Mamma. Everything went bright red.

Blink saw Maria freeze up and asked "Maria? What is it?" but there was no time. The boy was bleeding out and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She didn't know why she was bothering. He had been shot, directly in the spine. He was probably already dead. She leant down to his head, and heard the faintest noise coming from his mouth. "Hot…." he whispered. Hot? Hot lead maybe. This kid wasn't getting up. "Maria he…" she started but was just in time to see her teammate and best friend jump up and charge at the Senator. Knowing what Feral was like when she went berserk, she screamed out to Jean-Paul and pulled a crystal shard out of thin air, throwing it at Feral. She hit Feral and teleporting her back to Blink. Jean-Paul looked up and knocked Cockrum's head on the ground before whizzing over to help hold Feral down. "Domino," he yelled into the communicator. "She's Feral again. Get back here now.".

Cockrum was woozy. So woozy. After he'd shot them, he thought he'd hit the kid, the treacherous little brat, then suddenly one of them had been right in front of him and had done…something to his arm that numbed it and had him pinned to the ground unable to move for some time. He'd looked over and seen the two girls, grabbing the boy on the ground. He'd hit the boy. Good. Those girls were trying to help but he doubted they'd be able to. He was a fairly good shot. One of the girls had sat back, the one who looked like some kind of animal. Filthy creature. The pink one was still trying and might be getting somewhere but the other one had frozen. Suddenly, the animal jumped up and started tearing down the hallway, foaming at the mouth and screaming. The other girl screamed and Cockrum redoubled his struggling. The filthy mutant guy would just let her kill him and suddenly, she just…..disappeared. No! Wait! There she was, back with the pink girl. The guy slammed his head on the ground and the world spun but didn't fade. He looked over to see the two holding the animal girl on the ground. The pale freaky one who'd kicked him was running back down the long hall from the great room. Why was it so hot? He should be getting away but he was still woozy and his arms and legs were numb from what the guy had done to him. He managed to sit against a wall and looked over when the heat got unbearable, agony pierced his head and a massive explosion rocked the hall.

God, those idiots couldn't handle anything. Domino muttered and swore as she ran back to the others and saw why. Feral had come back and the kid was still writhing on the ground. Cockrum was up against a wall but he wasn't going anywhere for a while. She turned to Feral. They just had to wait for her to calm down there. The kid, well, he looked like a spinal hit to Domino and that wasn't something you walked away from. It wasn't something you rolled away in a wheelchair from. She walked over and noticed the heat immediately. Something was up. Kid's powers must be manifesting. She opened her mouth to speak and a psychic scream tore through her shields and an explosion threw her against a wall.

Jono lay on the ground, writhing in agony. The Senator had shot him. The Senator had shot him. The Senator was supposed to be a Good Person but Good People didn't shoot people, especially kids. He hurt. Oh God, Oh Jesus oh crap how he hurt. There were people next to him, the girls he'd seen so briefly but then one went away and then ran away and the other did something and she was back but they went of to the side and Jono was writhing. It was hot. So hot. Why was it so hot? Agh. God. Christ, this hurt. It hurt so bad. Jono felt like his chest was about to burst and it was so HOT. Ahhhh. He screamed out as he felt the bottom of his face, the entire front of his chest dissolve. He screamed as the pain peaked at a new height of agony and the explosion ripped through his body and flung him into the wall, fire spewing out of his chest. At least it wasn't to hot anymore was his last thought as he passed into welcome blackness.

Westchester,

That Night

He knew it was over. He'd known for some time. He had to try but it couldn't work. Suddenly, he saw the boundary fence between the tree line. He was almost there! He speeded up, running as fast as he'd ever run in his life when a searing line of heat ripped across of his back. So close. So close but she'd caught him. He turned and threw a wild punch, felt it connect to a gut but it had no real force behind it. She grunted, momentarily winded and then reached down and dug her claws into his throat. The last thing Jason "The Rooster" Cockrum, Senator of the United States of America ever saw was the woman who killed him leaning over to lap up the blood running from his throat.

Westchester,

Shortly before,

Domino rolled over. She lay in an oval clear of debris, her wonderful power at work again. She jumped up, ignoring the bruises that were her only injuries. Gun out, she hobbled over to the kid who'd nearly killed her. She did not like being blown up. She staggered over and pointed the gun at his head but a voice in her head said Don't. She twitched. She hated telepaths. She hated hated hated hated hated hated hated telepaths. Please. Don't. Please please. I'll do whatever you want. Domino lowered her gun. "We may have something to work with. But that's for later. Stop talking to me and unless I give you permission, you never talk in my head again. Otherwise, we see if your head can stop bullets as well as your back." she snapped viciously.

Blink was struggling to hold down Feral with Jean-Paul. Why did the girl have to be so damn strong when she went berserk? Suddenly, a huge blast of heat ripped towards them followed by an explosion. Jean-Paul was thrown off to the side and she saw Maria sent in another direction. She jumped up as soon as she could move and ran directly at the already up Maria who was charging towards where Cockrum was. She tackled her, calling for Jean-Paul who didn't appear. If only she weren't so damn stong!

Jean-Paul heard Blink call but he couldn't get up. Someone has stabbed me. He managed to lift his head and saw a large piece of woodwork had pierced his chest. Not fatal. He breathed in deeply. No stabbing so my lungs are ok. Must be ribs. No more breathing deeply, JP. He yanked the woodwork out, ignoring Blink calling for his help and lay on the ground, bloody shard in hand. He hoped he didn't die. He really hoped.

Cockrum managed to stand when he recovered from the explosion. He hadn't been hit with any debris but his hall was ruined. All the glass was gone from the windows. Those filthy muties had all been thrown against the wall but the guy and girl were already stopping the animal. He realised he had to get away. He threw himself out of the big windows, rolling down the small hill outside as his legs failed him. He jumped up and ran, heading for the woods. Jason "The Rooster" Cockrum ran from the home of his family into the woods from which he would never return.

Feral was struggling. The pink girl, (Blink, a part of her mind reminded her) was holding her down and something was stopping Feral from just cutting through her to get past. But her prey was getting away. She stopped struggling and threw Blink into the wall and then jumped out the window. The hunt was on. Feral loved to hunt. Like a cat after a rooster, Feral ran out of the ruined mansion and into the woods.

Blink staggered over to Domino and the kid. "The Senator is out there. Feral is chasing. He's not coming back. I can't get him because of the trees and JP's got at least 2 broken ribs so he's not going anywhere. We'll have to wait till I can find her and I doubt Cockrum can last that long. What do we do? Domino?" Blink questioned. Domino turned to her and sighed. "Go out and find her as soon as you can. She can't start to tear him to pieces. Get her before that happens and send her back. Try not to let her find out what she's done, you remember last time. I'll clean up the Senator and you, my lucky little lad, get to look after Northstar." She turned to the kid who'd passed out. Great. I get to look after the Canadian moron as well. Sighing, she turned to Blink. "Well! Go!" Blink nodded tiredly and blinked out. This hadn't worked out so badly, everything considered.

Epilogue,

Washington DC

The Next morning

A man sits with his coffee reading the paper. It has published the only papers salvaged from the late Senator Jason "The Rooster" Cockrum's home, unfortunately damaged by fire. They were called "The Rooster Crown" and tell of Senator Cockrum's realization regarding the mutant rights bill. Excellent, the man thought. Domino and her team did well. She will be worth using again another time. Have I found my Marauders? Maybe The man smiles and his eyes flash red.

Paris,

The next morning, local time

Another man sits in a palatial private residence, reading the same paper. Excellent. Domino's team was coming along nicely. Suddenly, he collapses onto his table, the back of his head blown off by the sniper on the roof next door. The sniper packs up her rifle calmly and makes her escape before the man's body is found. She returns to a hotel and strikes a name off the list. Investigators might notice the minor irregularities in what was left of the man's brain matter. Tessa Niles, sitting calmly in her hotel room in Paris, wonders if they will even notice the two drops of blood that were trickling down his cheeks.