Hey! Just a quick note: I'm not entirely sure if the translation at the end on this chapter is entirely...coherent. I must apologize if it isn't, as Google Translator apparently has trouble with its...er, translating. Anywho, I've held you up long enough, so let's continue.

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Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Marvel Comics or its characters. I take no credit for its ownership or creation. Cephius, however, is actually mine.

Journey of a King: Book 1: Alien

Chapter 2

As Cephius leapt off of the car and began to flee, Quicksilver and Sabretooth closed in on Kitty and Logan, both of whom were standing ready to fight. "Ya ready for round two, bub?" Logan growled at Sabretooth, who smiled menacingly as he approached. "Always am, runt," he replied, "always am." Meanwhile, Quicksilver was focusing on Kitty, a smirk once again playing across his face. "What's the problem, X-man? What are you helping Riftwalker for, huh? You two know each other?"

"We don't have to know him to help him get away from you, you creep!"

Quicksilver and Sabretooth began to surround the two X-men, readying themselves for a fight. Before they could throw a single punch however, Magneto suddenly landed behind them and held up his hand. "No!" he commanded, "Forget the X-men! We've come for Riftwalker, and he's getting away!" Quicksilver immediately broke off in response and sprinted up over the cars after Cephius, but Sabretooth paused for a moment before turning towards Logan. "Looks like we'll have to settle this some other time, runt." He growled.

Sabretooth leapt up and out of the "arena" of cars as Logan and Kitty gave chase. Kitty took Logan's arm and phased them both through the wrecked steel to see Sabretooth sprinting towards the other side of the intersection. There, Logan could see Cephius as Quicksilver sprinted circles around him, thwarting any attempt to escape with a sudden punch or kick to his body. With Cephius stuck and unable to run, Magneto saw him as an easy target. He lifted the pair of metal bars once more, flying towards where Cephius was trapped just as he looked up to notice him. Again, Cephius's mind raced. Magneto wouldn't let him get away with another sonic roar, he was sure of that. And with the mini-tornado Quicksilver was running around him, there would be no way he could dodge. There was no escape.

But there is, he thought, there is a way to escape. All that I need do is…

No. Never again. Not with what that would bring him; what it had brought him before.

Cephius shook his head to get rid of the thought and looked up again to see Magneto grinning; he had noticed Cephius's hesitation, his restraint. "Come now, Riftwalker!" he called down to him, "You have gifts that could bend entire worlds to your feet! Why run from them?! Why hide them away?" Cephius's eyes flared red with fury at his words. "Because I will not give you the satisfaction, Magneto!" he bellowed, "I will not release control! Not again! And certainly not for you!" His tail began swinging dangerously as he raged on before turning his attention to the swirling tornado around him. With a yell, he twisted his body around, flailing his tail like a mace, before slamming the spiked club straight into the "wall" of teal and gray that was Quicksilver.

CRRRRRRRAAACCCKKK!

The sound that split the air as Quicksilver was stopped in his tracks was the cracking of splintered bone. Logan and Kitty stopped dead as the sound echoed around them, and caught sight of Quicksilver bent over the club, which had scored a direct hit into his torso. The look on Quicksilver's face was of nothing but pure shock, but just before he fell to the ground as Cephius removed his tail, Logan caught sight of a stream of blood trickling out of his mouth.

As Quicksilver hit the ground with a whimper, all else stood silent before pain suddenly overtook him and he began screaming in horrific agony. The rage vanished from Cephius's face as he turned around to look at what he had just done, to be replaced by a look of shock and regret. Quicksilver's entire body was now covered in blood, his chest and stomach having seemingly collapsed from the tail club's blow. Cephius had crushed his entire ribcage in one fell swoop, if not half his internal organs as well.

"Pietro!" cried Magneto as he quickly landed nearby and ran over to where Quicksilver lay. Cephius, cursing himself for what he had done, wheeled around and sprinted off, leaving both mutants behind in his wake. Kitty held up a hand to her mouth as she gained full view of Quicksilver. Even if he was an enemy, it was still gut wrenching to see him; lying on the ground, yelling in agony, blood tricking out of his wounds. Magneto was bending over him, seemingly trying to do whatever he could to stop the blood flow. But before she could do or say anything to him (not that she knew what she was going to do), she heard Logan call out to her.

"Kitty! Come on!" Logan shouted. He had already begun to chase after Sabretooth, but had stopped and turned around when he noticed that Kitty wasn't behind him. Kitty took one last pained look at Quicksilver's face before hurrying after Logan, trying in vain to forget what she just saw.

It didn't take very long for Logan to catch up to Sabretooth, who had already managed to catch up to Cephius himself and was now trying in vain to subdue him. Cephius was obviously not an easy person to take down. Although Sabretooth had him in a hold, there wasn't much else he could do without risking him breaking free. As Logan ran forward to help, however, Sabretooth managed to reach over and grab hold of Cephius's leg.

A dull CRACK cut the air, and Cephius let out another deafening roar as he felt his leg break. Adrenaline surging through him, Cephius suddenly freed an arm from Sabretooth's grip, and with one great swipe cut a huge gash across Sabretooth's nose.

"HHHRRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"

Sabretooth howled as he let go of Cephius and stumbled backward, his hand clutching his face as Cephius staggered around. As Sabretooth drew his hand away and his eyes blazed with fury, he suddenly spotted Logan charging towards him. "YOU'LL GET YOUR TURN, RUNT!" he bellowed, catching Logan and throwing him aside after a brief struggle. "First, I have to deal with your little pal here!" Cephius growled at Sabretooth as he drew towards him, cracking his neck and knuckles as he approached. He tried to put more weight on his leg to steady himself, but it was impossible. There was simply in too much pain. "What's this now?" Cephius gritted though bared teeth, "The mighty Sabretooth can't handle a little scratch? We both know you're a fast healer, boy." He was quite right of course. Even as Sabretooth approached, the gash across his face was fading away. It didn't do much to calm his mood, however. "Boy?" he repeated as he stopped right in front of Cephius. "Kid, I'm older than you're ever gonna be, and I think it's time you were taught a little respect."

He blocked another swipe from Cephius before grabbing him by the neck, lifting him into the air until his feet barley touched the ground. Cephius made a move to slash him for a third time, but Sabretooth stopped him, plunging his claws right into his shoulder and tearing downward. "YA LIKE HOW THAT FEELS, BOY!?" Sabretooth shouted over another blazing roar. "IT HURTS, DOSEN'T IT!?" Bloodied gashes dripped from Cephius's shoulder as Sabretooth drew his hand back, moving as though he was about to gut him, but just before he could plunge his claws into Cephius's body, a pair of thin metal bars suddenly appeared, winding themselves around his wrist and holding him back.

Kitty, who had finally caught up to the fight, was already helping Logan get back on his feet (not that he needed much help; his healing factor took care of any injuries he had), and as Logan rose and caught sight of Sabretooth's arm, he instinctively looked up to see Magneto, hovering several feet above the ground with his hand outstretched. As the metal bars lifted Sabretooth high into the air, he let go of Cephius, causing him to fall to the ground in a heap. Cephius let out a cry of pain as he rolled over onto his back, his left leg beginning to bleed due to its fracture. "Cephius!" Kitty cried, running over to him before Logan could stop her.

"Wait! Half–pint!"

Logan threw out his arm, afraid that Magneto would notice her, but he soon realized that he was far too preoccupied with restraining Sabretooth. Even from a distance, Logan could see the look on Magneto's face: He was completely livid.

"I told you I wanted him UNHARMED!" Magneto bellowed, the metal bars around Sabretooth's hand constricting as he clenched his fist. Sabretooth yowled in pain as the bars tightened, his other hand clawing and slashing at them, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Kitty knelt down over Cephius and began examining his wounds. They looked much more gruesome up close. "Whoa," she said "that is, like, so much more blood then I wanted to see today." Cephius slowly turned his head in her direction and spoke, "Then…how much…did you want to see?" A ghost of a grin formed on his lips before he closed his eyes. His face was beginning to turn pale; he was quickly losing blood. Kitty reached for the scarf in her bag to try putting pressure on the wound – before remembering that she left her bag back at the intersection.

As she looked around frantically to see if there was anything she could use, she suddenly noticed a shadow looming up from behind her and turned to see Logan, bending down to grab Cephius by the arm before hoisting him up onto his shoulders. "C'mon." he said, rising to his feet. "While Magneto's busy. We gotta get 'im outta here." He ducked into a side alley, Kitty hurrying after him, and only stopped when they came to a large chain–link fence in their path. Kitty took hold of Logan's arm and phased them through it, and as they made their way through the winding streets and alleyways, Logan could hear the distant sounds of Magneto's furious raging. They had managed to lose him.

"Uh…Logan?" asked Kitty. Logan looked over at her as she spoke. "What do going to do?" she asked, "He's hurt. Like, really bad." Logan's eyes shifted upwards towards Cephius's face; his eyes were closed, his slow and ragged. "We need to get him to the Institute." Logan replied, his voice more gruff than usual. "Hopefully Hank can do somethin' for 'im."

"Ju…Judging…" Cephius suddenly spoke, his eyes still closed and his voice very strained and weak. Kitty looked up at him worriedly. "Cephius?"

"Judging…by the way you said that, Logan," he continued, "you…still did not wish to leave the fight."

"Yeah, well, I still have a score to settle with Sabretooth, but the Professor 'd never forgive me if I had just let ya bleed to death."

"Then…I owe the two of you my thanks. But…still…" Cephius suddenly fell silent, having seemingly lost his breath, and opened his eyes. From what Kitty could see, they seemed almost out of focus, but then again it was very hard to tell with eyes like that. "Careful." She said, "You're, you're losing a lot of blood."

"And the last thing we need is you dyin' on us." Logan said. "So, Catscratch, you gotta name? Aside from that "Ceephus" or, whatever…"

"Cephius." He corrected Logan. "But…to answer your question…I am know as Michael. Michael…Malcom…"

As Michael fell silent once again, Kitty and Logan found themselves in view of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, although judging by the amount of blood still trickling down Logan's shoulder, Kitty thought they still couldn't get there fast enough. Cephius was now looking very pale, and his breath was now very heavy and labored. They quickly made their way toward the gates at the front of the property, but just as they managed to reach it, they discovered that their path was blocked.

Colossus stood before them, a collection of objects clutched within one hand, and an unconscious Gambit slung over his other shoulder. Logan growled as soon as he saw him, but Kitty walked forward first. "Peter," she said boldly, "please, let us through. Michael needs to get to the Medbay, fast." Colossus took a few steps forward. "Kitty," he spoke, his Russian accent unmistakable, "I know he is injured. It was never the intention. As he already said, Magneto did not want him harmed."

"Little too late for that now, ain't it, bub?" Logan snarled. "Now get out of the way!" Colossus stood his ground. "No, I am sorry, Wolverine," he said, "but I cannot. Magneto will not let him set foot in your mansion, and I cannot disobey him."

Logan unsheathed his claws again and growled as Kitty protested, but just then Cephius raised his head and began to speak.

"Pi…Piotr…"

Everyone turned to face him as he lifted his head further, taking a deep breath as his eyes stared directly at Colossus.

"Petr . Ya ... vypolnil svoyu chast' sdelki . Ya nashel vashu sem'yu ... v kayute ... pod Sankt-Peterburgom . Poisk po domu ... chto Pyro okhrannikov ... Vasha sem'ya budet tam."

Colossus looked taken aback that Michael spoke his native tongue, but the shock on his face vanished as Michael continued.

"I…vypolnil svoyu chast' sdelki, Petr. Teper', pozhaluysta...chtit' vash."

Colossus's face returned to its usual serious expression. After a brief pause, he placed two of the three items that were held in his hand in front of him, before moving aside, allowing them to pass. Kitty could see her bag peeking out from behind the brown heap of cloth Colossus had left, which she quickly realized was Michael's cloak.

"Spasiba" Michael told Colossus, before lowering his head again to rest across Logan's shoulder.

"Nyet, moy drug." He finally replied."Spasiba. Ya govoryu svoyey sem'ye, chto vy sdelali dlya nas. My budem vechno blagodarny." And with that he turned away, Gambit still slung over his right side, Bo staff clutched in his left hand and walked away.

Kitty ran to a console on the wall just to the gate's left and placed her hand on it. After a few seconds, the console glowed green and spoke, "ID recognition: Verified. Welcome, Katherine Pryde." The gates opened up and Logan hurried through it, Kitty following him before the gates closed behind them. "What was all that about?" Kitty asked. Logan just shook his head. "No idea. We can ask Catscratch once we patch him up." He looked up at Michael. He had seemingly passed out after his talk with Colossus, and was now looking paler than ever. The blood had finally stopped, but Logan still wasn't sure if he was going to make it. As they finally reached the front porch of the mansion, Kitty ran forward to open the door, only for someone on the other side to open it for her.

A large mutant covered in blue fur stood before them. His large teeth, sharp claws, and ape-like body gave him the look of a feral monster, but Kitty and Logan both knew that the truth couldn't have been more different. This was Henry McCoy, the very mutant they were hoping to see. "Kitty? Logan!" His eyes widened as he spotted Michael and closed the book in his hands shut. "Who…what has–?"

"Hey Hank." Logan said, his eyes looking back at Michael's face. "Prep the Medlab, would ya? We got a visitor…"