Author's note: Here's chapter 10. I guess it starts off a little slow, but I figured it was time to let yall in on a little bit of Rowdy's past. Oh, and I just want to say, I formating sucks. I've had to go through and reformat each chapter like three times after I upload it. I still need to go back and fix the earlier chapters.
So, On with the everlovin' show!!
Interviews, Stories, and Chaotic Cults
Xavier watched as Rowdy limped through the doorway of his office. The boy had followed him from the hidden basement of the mansion through the hallways to the elevator to the second floor. They had remained in silence as they walked, Xavier surreptitiously watching Rowdy taking in the mansion. They would save a proper tour until the X-Men returned. At the hallway leading to the office Xavier had moved ahead, allowing Rowdy to follow him at a distance. This served two purposes; it gave Rowdy a few moments to collect his thoughts and it allowed Xavier to watch him more closely as he entered the office. Professor Charles Xavier, while the worlds most powerful telepath, was also one of the most skilled observers and psychoanalysts on the planet. Next to perhaps Logan he could read people better than anyone, and he had found that one could learn a lot by simply watching a person enter a room.
Rowdy stopped in the doorway, first looking to his left, then sweeping the room. He continued slowly, looking behind him, behind the door Xavier realized. The boy's gaze lingered on a Qing vase, then on a Rembrandt painting, then on a picture of the X-Men gathered around the Professor in front of a Christmas tree. The latter seemed to hold his attention longer than anything.
"Please, have a seat Rowdy," Xavier said, motioning to the chair in front of his desk, breaking Rowdy's thoughts.
Rowdy moved forward to the chair, sliding in and leaning his crutches on the desk. Xavier noted that the boy seemed to be experienced using crutches.
"How are you feeling, Rowdy?" he asked.
"Better," Rowdy said simply.
"Rowdy, I don't know what you have decided, if anything, regarding staying here, and you don't have to decide now. It seems, however, that you may be involved in something extremely dangerous. Something that also involves myself and my X-Men. I would appreciate any cooperation you could give us." Xavier's tone was gentle and friendly, but it was obvious that he was very serious.
"Yeah, look, Professor, I don't know how much I can help you," Rowdy said. "I'd like to, and I'll do what I can, but I really can't tell you much."
"Would you mind if I asked you some questions? You don't have to answer."
"Yeah. Go ahead." Rowdy's face twitched slightly.
"Before we get too deeply involved, first, have you decided about staying?"
Rowdy paused, thinking. "Maybe. For a little while. Till I get back on my feet."
"Excellent. I think you will find that we really do just want to help you."
"Yeah, that and I know stuff you wanna know." Rowdy said. He didn't say it tauntingly, but simply as a fact. Xavier smiled.
"It does appear that way, yes. What is your relationship with this "Man in Black."
"I can't really tell you. He helped me out a while back. Saved my life." Rowdy
"And now you are indebted to him."
"You could say that. Can I have a drink?" Rowdy said, eyeing the mini bar in the corner of the office.
Xavier smiled. "I believe there is some Coke in the refrigerator."
"Great," Rowdy said, and with some effort stood, collected his crutches and limped to the corner. He took a can of Coke out of the refrigerator and poured some in a tumbler on the counter. Then he uncapped a decanter of whiskey and poured a generous amount in over the coke.
"That was not what I meant Rowdy," Xavier said sternly.
"Yeah, I know," Rowdy said, plopping two ice cubes into the glass. He turned to go back to his seat but discovered he couldn't handle the crutches and the glass at the same time. Giving up, he simply pulled himself up onto the counter and took a sip from his glass.
"We will have a talk about that later. How long have you know this man."
"'Bout three years." Rowdy took another sip, this one a little bigger.
"Where did you meet him?"
"South America. In Columbia."
"What were you doing in Columbia?" Xavier seemed genuinely surprised at this.
Rowdy smiled grimly. "It was some crazy scheme of a friend. He figured we could make a fortune ripping off drug lords. He was right too, till we got caught."
"And the Man in Black?"
"Can't tell you 'bout that," Rowdy said. "Sorry." Another sip.
"Is he a mutant?"
"Not that I know of. At least, I don't guess you could call him that."
"Rowdy, Have you ever heard of a group called A Maneira?"
"They make bread, right?"
Xavier smiled. "I think that is Panera. As long as you are going to drink, you might as well pour me a glass as well. Scotch with three ice cubes if you don't mind.."
Rowdy chuckled and turned in his seat on the counter, picking up another tumbler and a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label.
"Good. I hate drinking alone. You'll have to come get it though, cause I doubt you want any stains on this rug of yours/"
"Thank you," Xavier said, wheeling himself towards Rowdy.
"Goddamn, we're a couple a crips ain't we," Rowdy said, looking down at his injured knee.
"Rowdy, while I may tolerate your drinking for the moment, I will not tolerate foul language, particularly taking the Lord's name in vain. Not only is it disrespectful and a sin, it shows an inability to articulate ones thoughts eloquently. It also renders swear words meaningless for when they are actually needed. This world is cursed with enough communication problems as is without your furthering them."
"Sorry professor," Rowdy mumbled, handing Xavier his glass.
Xavier nodded and sipped from his glass. "May I ask what formal education you have?" Xavier asked.
"I dropped out of school when I was 13."
"When your powers emerged?"
"Yeah."
"You seem to have a fair command of them now. Have you always had this level of control?"
"Naw. At first they weren't too bad. Weird shit-. Sorry. Weird stuff kept happening. They kicked in over the summer, so at first I hid it pretty well. Then I went back to school. Desks started disappearing and pencils turned into frogs or somethin'. Course none of it was real and they'd change back as quick as they changed, but finally they figured out I was the one doin' it. Kicked me outta school. I figured that was a good enough reason to leave, so I did."
"You ran away from home."
"Yeah. My parents probably noticed a few days after I left. I reckon they had the police out lookin', but I don't know." Rowdy drained the last of his drink and turned to make another.
"Rowdy, if you pour another alcoholic beverage in my office, I will show you just how mobile an old man in a wheel chair can become." Xavier said politely.
"Well now you've peeked my interest." Rowdy said. He did not, however,pour any whiskey into his glass, settling instead for just Coke.
"You showed quite a bit of knowledge about art to Kitty and Rogue. Where did it come from?"
"Look, you want the whole story, or do you just wanna keep doin' this twenty questions crap."
"I think that would probably save us some time yes. However I was under the impression that you were enjoying being mysterious."
"Aight, well here's the short story. I left when I was thirteen. We lived outside Raleigh North Carolina. I headed to Raleigh and bummed around a while. I met up with a guy, Carol, in Chapel Hill. He was eighteen. He showed me 'bout everything you could need to live on the streets. Pick pocketing, breaking and entering, that kinda thing. Turns out, Carol was a guild trained thief. He wasn't guild, or even ranked, but he was pretty damn good. So anyway, he started teachin' me stuff. So we made it up here to New York City, Carol was pullin' jobs for some mafia type that didn't want to go through the thieves guild. Durin' the day he used to drop into New York University like he was a student and sit in on classes. Finally, a professor there figured out he wasn't a student. Dr. Calvin Russell. He taught philosophy. So he met Carol for lunch one day. Guess he interested him or somethin'. Doc told Carol that if he was interested in learnin' enough to drop in like that, he was more than welcome. Course it didn't do me no good cause I was way too young, but when Carol was out pullin' jobs that I couldn't go on, I'd drop around Doc's place an we'd talk philosophy an' art an' shit."
"How old were you at this point?" Xavier asked, finishing his own drink.
"'Bout fourteen. Anyway, me, Doc, an' Carol all got to be pretty good friends. Make a long story short, after all that, Carol managed to piss of the dude he was workin' for an' we had to get out for a while. So we headed for Columbia. I was 'bout seventeen then."
"Are Carol and Dr. Russell the ones in the photograph with you" Xavier asked.
"Yeah, the other one was my girlfriend."
"What happened to them?"
"They're dead." Rowdy said, looking down at the Persian rug.
"How-" Xavier stopped short. "Rowdy, I'm sorry, but Scott is at Gambit's location. I need to concentrate."
Cyclops stepped further into the shadows with his team.
"Ok guys, we're just going to get in, grab him, and get out. Night crawler, how long before you can teleport again."
"If I rest, I could probably 'port one or two people in about ten minutes." Nightcrawler said from his position in a tree just above Cyclops. He was swinging from his tail, taking in the mass of people in the clearing with his yellow eyes.
"Ok, you're out from the actual assault then. I want you to stay where you are and get ready to go as soon as we get him. Wolverine, Shadowcat, I want you two to slip around behind the bonfire and when Jean gives the signal phase thru the fire and grab Gambit. Rogue, Beast, you're going to go in fast from the front and take out the two closest to him.
Then I want you to cause a big a distraction as you can."
"Wholesale butt kickin' and mayhem? That sounds kinda like type casting to me, what do you think Beast?" Rogue said with a smile.
"Indubitably Rogue," Beast said. "I think we have chosen our code names appropriately."
"Storm," Cyclops continued, ignoring Rogue and Beast, "I need you to cover us with darkness, rain, hail, what ever you can do to limit the visibility."
Storm simply nodded.
"Rogue, Beast, as soon as Shadowcat and Wolverine are in the open, that whole crowds probably gonna come at you. Iceman and I will do what we can to cover you and make a hole so that you can get back to the woods. Jean, can you try and confuse the crowd? "
"I can. I'll also try and shield everyone's minds so that The Man In Black doesn't overwhelm us."
"OK people, lets get in position."
With that, Wolverine and Shadowcat faded into the shadows, working their way around the clearing. The rest of the team moved to the very edge of the wood line, Rogue putting her hands on Beast's shoulders. Jean and Storm took flight and hovered about four feet off the ground. After a few moments Jean informed everyone that Wolverine and Shadowcat were ready.
"NOW "Jean screamed in everyone's heads after receiving a nod from Cyclops.
Shadowcat and Wolverine phased thru the fire and retook their solid forms just behind the inverted cross. The Man In Black and the one in the red hood saw them immediately.
"Intruders!" The Man shouted. "Seize them!" Before he could issue more orders he was hit in the back by a flying Beast, thrown by Rogue at point blank range.
"'Intruders seize them'?" Rogue said. "Well, I'll give ya this one sugah, you sure got the super villain jargon down pat." Without missing a beat she hit the man in the red hood with all he might.
The red hood had turned at the sound of her voice just in time for an intimate introduction to her fist. He hit the ground as quickly as he had turned, motionless.
The Man had fared a little better, after being thrown off balance by Beast he turned to face his blue assailant. Without saying a word he pointed his hand at Beast, shooting flames at him. Beast was forced to cut his second attack short and dive to the side.
The crowd surged forward, some lowering their hoods for better vision.
Rogue turned to face them and to her surprise she found that, rather than simply angry faces, she was looking into crowd that didn't look remotely human. A mass of people with lizard heads, disfigured faces, even a few that didn't appear to have heads, was coming towards her alarmingly fast. Before she could take in much more however, an ice wall formed, cutting off most of the crowd's assault.
Iceman and Cyclops were picking people off as quickly as they could. Iceman's ice wall blocked them from reaching Rogue, Beast, Shadowcat, Wolverine, and Gambit, but it also gave them a new target. Having spotted the X-men's long distance assault duo the crowd had evidently decided that if it couldn't stop its prisoner from being released then it could at least inflict damage on two of his rescuers.
"Uh, Cyclops," Iceman said. "I don't guess you had this bit worked into your plan, did you?"
"Storm," Cyclops shouted. "NOW!"
The dark moonless night became darker the stars were blocked out with storm clouds. A hard, steady, rain began to fall, turning quickly to hail. Storm struck lightening into the crowd, scattering cult members.
After slashing the ropes holding Gambit to his cross Wolverine had picked him up and handed him off to Shadowcat. Turning, he dove into the crowd of thirty or so cult members that had made it close enough to be caught on their side of the ice wall. Rogue was in the middle of this crowd, fighting off three large mutants. This bunch seemed to have more than just physical deformities. One, the closest, had one long blade instead of a hand. He swang it like a sieve at Wolverine. Wolverine ducked beneath the attack and in less than a second the man was lying dead at his feet. He wasted no time finding another target.
Meanwhile, Jean had taken position above the bonfire and was telekinetically throwing burning logs at the Man In Black. Taking advantage of the distraction, Beast again attacked the Man, flipping onto his left hand and swinging both his feet in a roundhouse kick that took the Man off his feet.
Shadowcat grabbed Gambit and headed for the ice wall, but her escape was cut off by the small mob.
"Rogue," she shouted. "I need a hole!"
"Give 'im to me Kitty." Rogue shouted.
Shadowcat handed Gambit off to the flying powerhouse and quickly busied herself helping Wolverine. Rogue took off with Gambit, flying over the wall, aiming for the wood line where she knew Cyclops, Iceman, and more importantly, Nightcrawler, were waiting.
"Mon deiu," Gambit said, looking at his latest savior. "I'm gettin' the idea my charm's failin', gettin' passed around like dis."
"Yeah, well save your charm for when we're not in the middle of a brawl with a bunch of Halloween rejects," Rogue said, sparing him a look. Damn he was handsome. She looked up in time to avoid a blue beam of light shot from the hand of a green skinned mutant below.
Slipping his hand into the tight hip pocket of Rogue's black body suit, Gambit withdrew three keys on a key ring. Charging them, he threw them into the crowd through which they were flying. The explosion sent mutants, including the green skinned one that had attacked them, flying in every direction.
"I must say I couldn't have asked for a prettier savior though," Gambit said.
"Were those mah keys? You just used mah keys as ammunition!" Rogue shouted.
"I'm sorry petite, but I thought it better than getting our tushes toasted, non?"
Grunting in frustration, Rogue flew higher and faster for the trees.
"How much longer are we going to have to hold them off Cyke?" Iceman asked. The crowd was all around them now. The force of the attack had mellowed dramatically with Jeans efforts to confuse the crowd, but combined with the confusion of the fighting the cult members had reverted to their basic instincts, lashing out at anything nearby. Cult members were now fighting cult members as well as X-men, and the ones closest to Iceman and Cyclops were converging like zombies rather than mutants.
"Not much longer, Iceman. Here comes Rogue!" Cyclops answered.
Rogue flew straight over their heads, only slowing when she reached Nightcrawler's tree.
"All right Kurt, get us out of here!" she shouted.
"Hold on tight meine freunde," Nightcrawler said, grabbing Rogue and Gambit. They were gone in a puff of blue smoke.
"JEAN" Cyclops shouted. "Call everyone back!" Upon receiving the call, the X-men began fighting their way back to Cyclops's location.
Wolverine sliced at the inverted cross, severing it at its bottom. The top part fell into the remaining cult members, trapping several under its heavy wooden planks and sending the rest running. Shadowcat grabbed Wolverine and phased them thru the ice wall. The two pushed into the crowd, Wolverine clearing a bloody path. Jean picked up Beast and began flying back to the woods, noting that sometime during the confusion, the Man In Black had disappeared.
Storm, seeing that the main part of the crowd was now free of friendlies, increased the intensity of her hail storm. The cult members were driven back, away from the other X-men, searching for cover. The sound of the X-Men's Blackbird could be heard over the roar of the storm.
Setting down in the clearing, the team rushed for the ramp, entering before it was even fully open.
"We're in!," Cyclops shouted. "Go Go Go Go"
Rogue pulled up on the collective and the plane began to rise.
Author's Note: That's it for this week campers. No lizards were harmed in the writing of this chapter, but my iguana would like to express his extreme displeasure with Jo Rowling.
Coming up, the aftermath of the fight and a few more answers about Rowdy. How does he tie in with the X-Men? What's he trying to acomplish (other than cerosis of the liver by the time he's 30)? How did his friends die? How exactly do you escape from a drug lord's prison in South America? And how many ways can everyone's favorite cajun ladies man piss off a teenage Mississippi mudpie in a single day? All that and more is coming up. (Please review. I'm a complement whore, but I also like constructive critisizem.)