Chapter 9

Brick by Brick

The Blackbird landed in its location, an empty field just south of London. It didn't seem like the place for a dimensional rift. Scotia led the team out of The Blackbird, with John Grey, Loga, and Morticia close behind.

"John, can you scan the area for mental activity?" Scotia said.

John nodded. He began scanning. He could hear someone, someone in trouble.

"Help me. Help me! Oh lord, please, please help me. I don't know what I did to deserve this, but please, help!"

John recognized the voice.

"I can hear Scamp's thoughts. He's in trouble."

Loga extended her claws. She hated the idea of one of her friends in trouble.

"Lead the way. We'll follow you," Scotia said.

John led The X-Women through the field. They came to a large brick, half-buried in dirt. The mental sounds became louder.

"Get this thing off me, please. Please."

John sent a thought out to Scamp.

"Hold on, friend. We're coming to rescue you."

She turned to the others.

"Ladies, I don't know how to say this, but he's inside that brick."

Morticia gave him a puzzled look.

"How the hell is that possible?"

"Spatial distortion," Scotia answered.

Scotia had dealt with spatial distortion before. Some mutants had the power to grow and shrink, altering how much space they really took up.

"The dimensional rift must be here. Spatial distortion is common wherever there's a rift," Scotia said.

"How do we get in, then?" Mortimer said.

Loga grumbled. She wasn't in the mood for scientific explanations. One of her friends was in trouble and she couldn't take the thought of him suffering any longer.

"We break it open. How else?"

Loga grabbed the brick out from the dirt. Scotia tried to stop her, but it was too late. She smashed the brick against the ground. It shattered to pieces. Fire erupted from the brick. A large castle began to form, warping the space around it as though it were never meant to exist. The ground itself rejected it, cracking at its appearance. Scotia began to run. The castle was expanding, growing until it reached its natural size. She instinctively grabbed John's hand.

"Come on, John! Before we get crushed!"

She saw Loga and Morticia dashing in the other direction in the corner of her eye.

-XW-

Loga and Morticia ran through the field until the castle was finally finished expanding. Once it was done, Loga began walking toward it.

"Come on, Morticia. We have to find Scamp."

Morticia hopped next to her. She was giddy with excitement.

"Who do you think did this? Will we get to fight them? Loga, I promise I'll fight my hardest! I'll…"

"Just leave the fighting to me, Toad. I'll tell you if I need you," Loga said.

"But…"

"I don't want you to get hurt on your first mission."

Loga and Morticia reached the entrance of the castle, which was guarded by a portcullis. Loga tried clawing at it, but the metal was too strong.

"Right here, Morticia. I need you. Use your acid spit to burn a hole through this gate," Loga said.

"Aye-aye, captain!" she said with a salute.

She spat a large ball of acid at the portcullis. It burned right through it, making and opening. Loga climbed through it with ease. There was an empty hallway in front of them.

"Whoever hides in this castle doesn't have much security. Shouldn't there be a guard on patrol?" Morticia said.

Loga shrugged.

"There probably are guards. We just haven't seen them yet."

As Loga and Morticia walked down the hall, Morticia began to ponder who would have done this.

"Who are the X-Women's enemies, besides The Sisterhood? I think there's Apocalypse. She could be behind this. …I hope not. She scares me. She…"

Her thoughts were interrupted.

"I see him," Loga said.

Sure enough, there was Scamp. He was in a room, with the door open. He was lying down on a bed, motionless, with a helmet on his head. Loga and Morticia ran to him.

"Scamp, can you hear me?" Loga said.

Mortica tapped on the mind control helmet.

"I don't think he can hear us."

She pulled the helmet off of Scamp. He began to hyperventilate. Loga grabbed him.

"Scamp, are you okay?"

"I… No, I'm not. I need to go to a hospital."

"We'll get you some help. Let's go," Loga said.

Scamp held up his hand, as though to say, "Stop".

"Wait!"

Loga and Morticia paused.

"Renny's here too. But! She's evil. She's working for Ms. Sinister. You need to stop her."

Loga usually wasn't one to pass up a fight, but Scamp was more important to her.

"We can worry about traitors later," she said.

"No, you need to stop her now. She put me in that helmet, that thing that makes me do and say whatever she wants. Then she made me do these horrible things, these…"

Scamp started to cry. Loga leaned in to hug him, careful not to touch any of his skin. Morticia joined in.

"It's okay. It's okay. We're here for you," Morticia whispered.

Scamp just now noticed that Morticia was with Loga.

"Isn't she evil?"

"I didn't want to be evil anymore. Being evil sucks," Morticia said.

Loga hugged Scamp a little longer.

"We'll get you back to The Blackbird, okay? Toad can look after you while I go look for Scotia and John."

Scamp was a little uneasy about Toad looking after him. He felt as though his world were turned upside down. His friend, Renny was now his enemy. His enemy, Toad, was now his friend. None of this made any sense to him.

"It's okay. I'll protect you. X-Women look after each other," Morticia said.

-XW-

Scotia and John were also inside of the castle, looking for Scamp. John was scanning the area for mental activity.

"Find anyone?" Scotia said.

John heard something.

"Oh, Scamp… What will I do with you tonight? What to do, what to do…"

John began to run.

"I can hear Renny's thoughts. They're… Strange."

"Strange? What do you mean?" Scotia said, close behind John.

"They don't sound distressed. Something isn't right here," John said.

Scotia and John reached a large room. There was a table in the middle, where Renny was sitting. She was playing solitaire. She dropped her cards and stood up.

"Scotia? John? What are you doing here?"

"We came here looking for you and Scamp. We found you. Let's go," Scotia said.

Renny laughed. She picked up a card. It glowed with pink energy.

"I'm not going anywhere, you two on the other hand…"

She flung the card at Scotia and John.

"…You can go to hell."

Scotia and John both darted out of the way. The card exploded. The room lit up with light, followed by smoke.

"Renny, what is this? I thought you were one of us?" Scotia said.

She flung another card. Scotia blasted it out of the air with her eyebeam before it could detonate.

"I lied. That's what's wrong with you goody-goody guys. You're too quick to trust someone."

Renny flung another card. John caught it using his telekinesis.

"I never liked you much, you know that?" he said.

John flung the card back at Renny. Her eyes widened.

Boom!

She flew back, up against a wall. Smoke billowed from her. Her skin and clothes were blackened with ash.

"You're coming with us, Renny. You're telling us everything," Scotia said.

Renny stood back up. She charged another card in her hand.

"I ain't giving up just yet."

She flung the card, only for Scotia to blast it out of the air again. John lifted her with his telekinesis.

"Who's behind all of this?"

Renny was silent. John squeezed her.

"Oof! Okay, okay! Just put me down!"

John squeezed her with his mind some more. Renny started to scream, until she let out a huge, nasty fart. Scotia couldn't help but laugh. John joined her. The atmosphere was ruined.

"What the hell was that?" John said, cracking up.

Renny was embarrassed.

"This isn't funny. Put me down. Now!"

"John, I just got this crazy idea. Can you make her pee herself?"

"Well… I guess I could. Maybe apply pressure to her bladder…"

John used his telekinesis to push on Renny's bladder. She started to cry.

"It was Ms. Sinister. Now put me down. Please!"

Scotia shook her head. She turned to John and smiled.

"Make her poop herself."

"No. That's where I draw the line," John said.

"Come on, please? It'd be so funny!"

Renny was nervous.

"Don't listen to her, John. You're going to take me on that jet, right? You don't want me stinking the place up, do you?"

John nodded. He let go of Renny. She fell to the floor.

"We don't have time to torment her, Scotia. Ms. Sinister could be here. If we can find her…"

A voice from behind spoke up.

"You don't have to look hard."

Scotia and John turned around. They saw Ms. Sinister, standing in front of them. She held a machine in her hand, the psi disruptor. Just seeing her made Scotia's blood burn.

"Sinister! I don't know what you're planning, but it ends here!"

Ms. Sinister laughed.

"Oh, but you're wrong, Cyclops. This is where it begins."

Ms. Sinister turned on psi disruptor. John held his head in pain. It was like something inside of him was trying to break free. His mental body was tearing itself apart.

"John!"

Ms. Sinister laughed. Scotia turned to her.

"Turn that thing off before I destroy it!"

"Go on, then. Destroy it. The explosion will kill us all. I know I'll survive. You? Maybe not. But me? I've lived through worse."

"You're bluffing," Scotia said.

She charged her eyebeams.

"It runs on diluted plutonium. Go on and destroy it if you want to die in the fallout," Ms. Sinister said.

Ms. Sinister was immune to all poisons, including radiation. Her body was durable enough to withstand explosions too. John let out another howl of pain. Objects began to levitate. Bricks in the castle, Renny's cards, torches on the wall, it all started to float in the air.

"Turn it off! Now!" Scotia commanded.

She shrugged.

"Unfortunately, I don't know how. The Sisterhood designed this. I only had Renny steal it from them."

John let out another howl of pain. His hair began to flare up, like it was on fire. Scotia had never seen him like this before. Ms. Sinister began to laugh again.

"Scotia, you are about to witness the awakening of a sleeping god. I give you, the rise of The Pheonix!"