The Sinister Solution
Chapter Eleven:
Hellion
Julian drove the last leg of the trip from Chattanooga to New Orleans. Their little interrogation by the frustrated Maria Hill only set them back an additional half hour. Remy sat in the front passenger seat navigating him through the rougher sections of "The Big Easy". He assured them that they were in Thieves Guild territory and that while they were looking for Sinister, they were in no way planning to impose on the devious mastermind's hospitality. He'd most certainly try to experiment upon them in their sleep! Julian still didn't think that approaching Mr. Sinister was a very smart idea, but of the four of the X-men on this mission, he seemed the only one who could think rationally. The others seemed to idealize Sinister as some Wizard of Oz. However, The Wizard of Oz had been a sham and he wanted to be there for Laura when she discovered that for herself.
He drove through the French Quarters with Remy pointing out various historical sights. "And that mis amies, is where the great French privateer Jean Lafitte owned a blacksmith shop with his brother. It's a fine restaurant now. Though, they say it's haunted. Particularly the lady's room."
"I don't think we're interested in taking the ghost tour of New Orleans," Julian pointed out. The sidewalks were crowded with drunken pedestrians and it wasn't even sundown. He waited at the crosswalk for an awkward gaited man playing on a saxophone to finish crossing the street in front of their vehicle. "And I don't even want to think about how you might know that the lady's room is haunted. We're here on a mission."
"I hear the vampire tour is nice," Warren added leaning forward from the backseat.
"No vampire tour either!" Julian cried out in frustration. He glanced up at the rear view mirror and met Laura's cool gaze for a second and he calmed down.
"Non, you must always seek knowledge of your environment," Remy argued. "That is the difference between a master thief and a criminal."
"Is this the street where the Mardi Gras parade takes place?" Laura asked. She peered out her open window and sniffed the air. "It reeks of alcohol and urine."
"The two go hand in hand, Petite," Remy said with a shrug. "Turn right at this light up here, Julian." They traveled further from the tourist section of New Orleans and towards the industrial district of the city. The number of working street lamps drastically reduced while the number of tall fences topped with barbed wire increased. "Claude should be waiting for us," Remy said. "Turn left here," he ordered.
Julian drove cautiously towards what appeared to be a solid brick wall. The wall facade opened into a dark garage and from within a dark haired man curled his fingers towards him encouraging them to keep coming. Julian drove the Range Rover onto a giant lift, like the ones used at a mechanic shop, that then began to travel down to a subterranean level.
"Welcome to the Thieves Guild industrial district satellite," Remy said with a grin. The lift eased to a halt and the darkness of the subterranean level was interrupted by bright florescent lights. Remy opened his door and embraced the dark haired man that had traveled down outside of the vehicle. "Claude Potier, thank you for meeting us."
"When my best friend's boy calls in a favor I'm quick to respond. Besides, my delicate skin burns in that Mediterranean sun," Claude said slapping Remy on the back affectionately. "Where's the package?"
Julian and the others also eased out of the vehicle. The subterranean level had at least a dozen vehicles of various makes and models distributed about the area. Laura's attention revoted to the steel door at the far corner of the large room.
"In the back," Remy answered. "You've got the room secured?"
"You know I do. Ajna and Zoe are also here, they insisted on helping," Claude said. "They flew all the way down from the Stolen Isle."
"Ah good, I can leave the package in the hands of those ladies," Remy said.
Julian stared at Remy in surprise. He was willing to leave Rogue's remains behind with this Ajna and Zoe? He assumed that one of their team would stay behind to keep an eye on her.
"You have the car ready?" Remy asked Claude.
"You sure you wanted the yellow Camaro?" Claude asked with a raised eyebrow. He pulled the Chevy's keys out of his jeans pocket.
"You know I love that Transformers stuff," Remy said with a grin. "All right team, we're heading out in the next fifteen minutes. If anybody needs a bathroom break I suggest you go now. You probably catch a STD at the bar we're heading to."
"If we're going to a bar we'll need ID," Julian protested. "Laura and I aren't twenty-one."
"My friend," Remy said, slinging his arm around Julian's shoulders. "Worry not. You are standing beside one of the most charismatic men in all of New Orleans."
Julian did feel that he was worrying needlessly. Why did he doubt Gambit? He shoved off Gambit's arm. "What did you just do?" He rubbed his temples. It reminded him of one of Quire's attacks.
"Powers of persuasion, I'm an empath," Remy explained. "I admit, it doesn't work so great on telekinetics." He curled and then opened his fingers in a rapid series of flicks. "Too much static interference."
Laura snatched the car keys out of Claude's hands. "I'm driving," she declared.
The steel door in the back opened and an Asian woman with long black hair pulled back into pig tails stepped out. "I'm coming too," she announced. She wore all black leather and knee high boots with stiletto heels. Julian swallowed thickly and stepped closer to Laura.
"Ajna, that's not necessary, Petite," Remy said holding his hands up in protest.
"Oh, it's necessary. You're looking for Sinister so I'm going with you," Ajna answered. Her dark eyes scanned over the X-men, her gaze lingered on Julian and she winked. "Hi handsome." She shoved Remy out of her way as she walked past him. "And don't call me 'Petite.' I hate that name."
"Okay, okay," Remy agreed. "Laura, Warren, Julian, might I introduce Ajna. She's a fellow mutant. Her talents are in telepathy and clairvoyance."
"And if you want to actually find Mr. Sinister you'll need me," Ajna said.
Laura sniffed. "No."
"No?" Ajna echoed with an arched eyebrow. "I don't think you understand."
"If you go, Sinister will not approach us," Laura argued. "He is also a telepath. I purposely chose not to include a telepath on this mission for this very reason. It would be a sign of distrust when we are trying to tell him we trust him."
"Oh? And you know him so well, do you?" Ajna asked.
"Wait, Ajna, I think she may be right," Remy interjected.
"I'm so sick of this place," Ajna pouted. She folded her arms over her chest and looked away with a sour expression. "Fine. I think you'll find his woman at Lucky's. She's there most nights if the accounts of nausea are any indication."
Remy rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I do like Lucky's," he said with a grin. "Let us go, mon amies. Thank you, truly my guide mates."
"Do you suspect Lucky's because you're clairvoyant or because you're making a logical assumption?" Julian asked. He viewed this Ajna like Glenda the good witch from Oz. Just because someone said to try on the ruby slippers, didn't mean it was the right thing to do. If Dorothy hadn't stolen the witch of the East's shoes she wouldn't have made an enemy of the witch of the West.
Ajna cocked her head to the side and stared at Julian a moment with a puzzled expression. "What's up with all the weird Wizard of Oz analogies?" she asked.
"Arg, I didn't say you could read my thoughts," Julian growled.
Ajna shrugged. "Lucky's is a logical conclusion. I do have a gift for clairvoyance but not everything is always known to me," she explained.
"Just be back before dawn," Claude warned.
"Why? Are you a bunch of vampires?" Warren asked.
Claude smirked. "Just keep an eye on the time, kids."
OoO
X-23
A large latino man with tattoo sleeves up and down both arms in a black leather vest, pants, and biker boots sat in front of the entrance of Lucky's. His dark eyes focused on checking the IDs of the would-be patrons. He'd already sent away two people with fake identifications. Gambit breezed up to the man casually, glanced at his name tag, and then worked his powers of persuasion.
"Monsieur Diego, it is a fine night. My companions and I would greatly enjoy visiting your establishment. I can assure you, that they are all of the appropriate age. It is unnecessary for you to trouble yourself checking their IDs," Gambit said, flashing the bouncer a charming smile.
"Yeah, sure. Stay out of trouble," Diego warned with an absent wave of his hand.
Laura allowed Julian to take hold of her arm and draw her inside the pool hall with him. Once they were inside and out of hearing range of the bouncer, Julian sighed in relief. "I admit, I didn't really think he'd be able to pull that off."
"When properly motivated, there isn't much that Gambit cannot do," Laura replied. She looked over the pool hall. Lucky's was a decent establishment. The billiard tables were good quality with fresh green felt tops and the music over the loudspeakers was energizing. She knew it was right to not bring the telepath. Mr. Sinister would know they were there and if he didn't come to them, then he wasn't going to help them.
Laura picked up a couple of pool sticks and handed one to Julian. From her peripheral vision she saw Warren claim a seat at the wet bar and Remy flit between various women flirting and acquiring intel. She was glad that role fell upon Gambit, because she just wanted to play pool and spend time with Julian.
Julian set up the balls on the pool table and placed the triangle around them with his telekinesis. The lights were so dim in the pool hall and the smoke so heavy that she doubted if anyone noticed. He set aside the triangle. "Do you want to go first?"
"I'll break," Laura volunteered. She positioned the cue ball and lined up her shot. With a precise application of force she hit the solid yellow ball into the right corner pocket. "Solids," she called.
A crowd of burly men at a nearby table eyed their game with sudden interest. Laura could smell their arousal as she leaned over the table in her low-cut blouse and short blue jean shorts. It wouldn't be long before she earned them some extra spending money for the trip.
"You're pretty good at this," Julian remarked. He stood with his pool stick balanced upon the floor at the other end of the billiard table. He'd yet to have a turn as Laura didn't miss a shot.
Laura lined up the cue ball and shot the eight ball into the corner pocket. "And I believe that is game," she said with a smirk.
"Okay, next time I'll break," Julian said with a shake of his head.
A red-haired burly man with a thick beard from a near by table laid his hand on Julian's shoulder. "Don't bother, son. The lady is out of your league." He shoved past Julian and ambled towards Laura with a bowlegged stance. "I don't suppose you'd like to try that little number on me?"
Laura's knuckled itched as she fought the urge to pop her claws and teach the rude man a lesson. However, she'd played the role of damsel before and she drew upon her acting skills, skills that were critical to any high level assassin. Laura chewed her lip and glanced at Julian with a look of uncertainty. "I don't know, mister. I kinda wanted to play with my boyfriend."
"Forget the boy, let me show you how a real man plays, honey," the redhead answered with a cocky wink.
"Care to wager?" Laura asked.
"Sure, why not," he said with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
One hour and two-hundred and fifty dollars later, Laura chalked up the end of her pool stick. Several of the locals had tried to match her skills at the pool table, but lost both face and cash.
"How about you and I play another round for fun? The bets are becoming less friendly," Julian said quietly in her ear. Laura nodded. "And this time I break."
She watched as Julian did a rather remarkable job of playing. He'd been perfect until it came to the second to last ball in the stripes. Laura took her turn and she was working on the last ball when Julian leaned over her shoulder. "Don't miss," he whispered, blowing a cool breath against her ear.
Laura shivered and missed the cue ball entirely. She whirled around on him with a scowl. "That, Julian Keller, was a cheap shot!"
Julian smirked at her and then took up his pool stick. He set aim and right before he smacked the end of the stick against the cue ball Laura grabbed his crotch. Julian shot the cue ball into the air and right before it could hit the red-haired burly man from earlier, he caught it with his green telekinetic glow. He set it gently on the green felt of their pool table.
"Nice save," Laura whispered.
Their waitress, Cindy, walked near them. "Ah thank you," Julian said. He lifted their cocktails from the tray using his telekinesis.
"You're welcome," Cindy said with a wink. "It's on the tab of that gentleman in the trench coat," she said gesturing towards Remy.
"Yep, that's our boss. He works us like slaves most days," Julian confessed.
Cindy's eyes focused on his hands. She seemed to have a metal fetish. Laura didn't like the way she tossed her cleavage about in front of Julian. The waitress leaned close to Julian and batted her long purple fake eyelashes. "If you need a place to stay the night...," she started to suggest.
Laura snatched her glass from mid-air pulling it out of Julian's green telekinetic glow. "He's got a place. It's right beside me," Laura said.
Cindy huffed and turned on her heel.
Julian's metallic hand touched Laura's forearm gently. "Calm down, Laura. She was just flirting. You should trust me."
"You, I trust," Laura said, touching his chest with the fingers of her free hand. "It's everyone else that I have a problem with."
Julian picked up his glass and downed his drink. He set aside his pool stick and then took Laura's hand. "Dance with me?" He gestured towards the small dance floor.
"Fine," Laura agreed. She set aside her pool stick and then gestured to the two bikers that had been waiting for their turn at the table. "The table is all yours, gentlemen."
She grabbed hold of Warren on their way over. "Stop sulking about the girl in Chattanooga," she said. "And come dance with us."
Warren set aside his drink and allowed Laura to drag him to the dance floor. "Did you see the size of her boyfriend? No wonder she didn't give me her number."
"You are old friends with her boyfriend," Laura reminded him.
"Doesn't count. I can't remember," Warren complained.
Julian extended his hand to Laura and bowed at the waist. "May I have this dance?"
Laura eyed him suspiciously and accepted his hand. He swung her into a quick count Lindy Hop. Laura smiled at the unexpected sensation. She didn't have to worry about having her feet stepped on, because Hellion had engulfed them both in his green telekinetic glow. They floated a foot off the ground.
"When I see you do that it makes having wings seem rather lame," Warren said, looking up at them. "Ugh," he groaned holding the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Why is the room spinning."
Laura didn't notice anything unusual, but then she was within Hellion's protective green glow. She looked across the bar to see that several of the visitors were clutching their stomachs or heads.
"Vertigo is a known associate of Mr. Sinister," Laura whispered. "And she's standing in the corner. The green woman." Laura gestured towards the source of the maladies of the others. There was a green haired woman wearing all green.
"It stopped," Warren said. He shook his head, blond hair loose about his face. "That was weird."
Remy crossed the distance from the wet bar to Vertigo. "Well, hello cher. I guess you decided to take a break from the Savage Lands and give city life a shot, no?"
"Why are you here, Gambit?" Vertigo demanded.
Remy held his hands out peacefully, showing he was unarmed. "We came to have an audience with your boss."
"Maybe he doesn't want to talk to you," Vertigo countered.
"Maybe, he would rather talk to my friends," Remy suggested.
Vertigo's eyes swept across the pool hall and locked on Laura's. The latter released the Adamantium claws of her right hand and waved at her. Vertigo turned back to Gambit. "Very well. Come with me."
"We have a package we'll need to pick up first," Remy said.
"I see," Vertigo said. "Fine. Meet me outside the old slaughter house on fifth and maple in one hour."
OoO
Rogue
After their visit with Logan, Kurt transported himself and Rogue back to Jean and Xavier. He shared with them the meeting with Wolverine. It wasn't long before the land around them began to quake, the sky grew red and fiery and they descended down. When the land stabilized about them, they were no longer in the rising flames and volcanic lands of Mephisto's territory of limbo. They were some place other and Nightcrawler was now unable to teleport. They were stuck in whatever place they were.
"I suppose one nice thing about this whole afterlife ordeal is that I'm not hungry," Rogue said. Their team had split up, the boys went left and the girls went right, a telepath on each team to keep up communication. She and Jean were hidden behind a large, black boulder that overlooked a barren valley full of scorched and shriveled up trees. A heavy wind blew back and forth, almost ripping the trees from the ruined earth, but not quite.
"That is a benefit," Jean agreed. "Unfortunately, it's only true in this region of the afterlife. You've not been here long, but before you arrived I was eating from a delicious fruit tree and greatly enjoyed it. We cannot feel any pleasure in this particular place."
"So you know where we are?" Rogue asked.
"Have you ever read the book Dante's Inferno?" Jean asked. She turned to look towards Rogue her green eyes thoughtful. She was certainly more calm about the whole traipsing throughout the darker regions of the afterlife.
"If we're sojourning through Hell, where's our Roman poet tour guide?" Rogue joked. She hadn't read the centuries old book, but she had watched an anime based on the story a few months ago, thanks to Shiro's attempts to educate her on proper Japanese culture.
"I don't believe Virgil will be accompanying us," Jean said, with an amused smile. "If we were to use the nine circles of Hell, I'd say we started off in limbo or purgatory. We were on the nicer side of things, but Mephisto also rules in that region. This place is the second circle, Lust. It's barren and wasted because of the strong winds. Those here were swept away by the passions in life and are now constantly swept away without rest here." Jean closed her eyes. "Their pain and confusion is so profound," she whispered.
"So, does that mean we need to search every level of Hell to find Kurt's father?" Rogue asked.
"I believe that Kurt is no longer able to teleport using the Hell dimensions because, like all humans, we must make our way through," Jean said. "If Azazel truly intends to rule Hell he will be in the lowest circle — the one reserved for murderers and traitors. The souls within these circles are so tortured that there is hardly anything of worth within them. Azazel intends to reap the souls of those in Heaven itself because the purity within those souls are worth much in this place."
"I may not be the most devout Southern Baptist girl, but I remember learning about Heaven and Hell and it seems to me that there's someone else in charge in both places," Rogue said. She rubbed her hands up and down over the gooseflesh that pickled her arms.
"I can hear the thoughts of all those suffering here," Jean said, her voice barely a whisper. She shook her head and offered Rogue an encouraging smile. "Come, let's find Charles and Kurt."
Rogue cast one last sympathetic look towards those suffering below. Her inability to control her powers for so long might have saved her from a position in this circle. What must it have been like to live so passionately as to earn an eternal home here? She shivered and followed after Jean, away from the roaring winds and tortured cries of the valley below.
"Did you find anything?" Kurt asked. He hugged Rogue tight. "Mein schwester, you are freezing!" He rubbed his blue, furry hands up and down her arms and turned to Jean for answers.
"Dante's Inferno," Jean said. "Any sign of your little bamfs? If Azazel's bamfs were able to transport us here, surely those allied with you can transport us out."
"Entschuldigen sie," Kurt said apologetically. "I am not familiar with Dante's Inferno."
"It's a poem from the fourteenth century," Xavier explained. "It follows the story of a man by the name of Dante would walks through the nine circles of hell."
"The poem is in three parts," Jean added. "The first part is the Inferno journey through Hell, but also Purgatory and Paradise."
"Okay," Kurt said, releasing Rogue from his embrace. His yellow eyes glowed with determination. "Then the plan is to keep looking for my father and for the souls he's stolen. We must right the wrongs he has inflicted upon the afterlife."
"By walking through Hell," Rogue added.
Kurt cringed. His long, blue tail flicked back and forth anxiously. "I never thought that would be something I would say, but yes, Anna. Let us venture through Hell together."
A/N: And Rogue's back! Eventually, the stories will match together though that will be some time. So, in typical X-men fashion one section of the story seems totally out of whack with everything else that's happening until they all merge into one fantastic plot! Thanks for reading and reviewing!