What a great feeling this is! Xander thought as he sat in a lotus position trying to figure out how best to handle the trap they were skipping gleefully into, We're traveling in a craft pieced together from a wrecked Shi'ar star cruiser, going at a lethal rate of speed and the engine sounds like it could give out or blow up at any moment!
Trying his best to reign in his emotions he opened his eyes to look about and see how the rest of the gang was doing. He wasn't sure when he started referring to them as 'the gang' and not 'the X-Men' but it felt right so he didn't bother to correct himself. At the 'controls' in the front of the craft stood Bishop and Beast, who were both trying to navigate the various snowdrifts and rocky outcroppings that popped up in their path. Judging from the number of close calls and hundred dollar words McCoy was using every once in a while, the vehicle couldn't stop on a manhole cover much less a dime. That fact made him give out sigh of relief every time they managed to avoid a head on collision with some part of the landscape and curse their luck at the same time. Personally he would have preferred waiting until Beast could assure them of the 'snow skimmer's' safety before getting underway but the Southern Belle standing outside on one of the struts wouldn't or couldn't wait for that. Ever since Gambit had willingly given himself up to the two bounty hunters Spat and Grovel, she had become more and more impatient as well as irritable. Not that he could blame her given how she felt about the Cajun but he just wished that she would take some more time to think things through. After all they couldn't rescue Remy if they wound up getting killed trying to catch up with him and his captors.
Joseph was standing at the center of the craft doing his best to keep the haphazard pieces that the vehicle was composed of together while also offering them all some protection from the elements. Not that it was doing much good judging from the fact that he could see his breath but considering how cold it tended to get in this part of the world it was better than nothing. The man formerly known as Magneto seemed to be treating this as another day at the office on the outside but from subtle signs on his face the Zeppo-turned-avatar could tell something painful was brewing inside the white-haired Fabio. Still, he had nothing but his hunches to go on so he'd keep his mouth shut and hope that the guy would have the smarts to ask for help if he wasn't feeling well.
As for the last member of their party, she was at the back of the ship leaning up against a wall and giving all of them the 'I will gut you for making me endure this' look. Oh she looked like she was fine with everything, but he could tell from her posture and what he remembered about Shi'ar physiology that the bird lady was probably hating the cold weather. After all, on good ol' Earth most birds flew to warmer climates when winter set in, and while he was just jumping to conclusions that the Shi'ar acted anything like Earth birds he was confident enough in his position not to change it. In any case it meant she was in a foul mood and he was not about to tempt fate by going over to her and trying to cheer her up. She was mad at him for enough reasons already and he didn't want to add to that list unless he absolutely had to, and even then he'd be reluctant.
All in all he had a feeling that the sooner they got Remy and got back to civilization, the better off they'd all be both physically and emotionally. He had his armor on at the moment since it took a little of the edge off the cold that Joseph wasn't able to keep out of the craft. He'd take it off once they arrived at their destination in order to keep it as a trump card against their mysterious host but at the moment it was just a winter coat substitute as far as he was concerned.
Why-o-why did this baddie have to have his pull us to Antarctica of all places? He thought as he fought off a shiver, Why no the Bahamas or maybe Mexico? At least then I might be able to enjoy myself.
This wasn't the first time he complained about the temperature and their overall location but at least this time he had managed to turn it into something productive. The more he thought about it the more he believed that whoever was orchestrating events had something to do with Magneto or, more specifically, Magneto's resources. First there was the location, which was bitter and inhospitable which he believed no villain mutant, demon or human would willingly subject themselves to when there were much better places available. The only benefit this location provided was isolation from the rest of the world and while that might help ensure that no one escaped he didn't believe imprisonment was the mastermind's goal. If that had been what he/she/it had wanted then he very much doubted that he and the X-Men would have been able to make it out of their chains much less past Nanny. After all, whoever was behind all this obviously had access to some seriously wicked tech and that meant that, if they had really wanted to, they could have had them so locked up that not even the X-Men with their powers could have broken out. That meant that the architect of this scenario wanted them to break out, wanted Gambit brought to him, and then come to another location where he/she/it would be waiting.
The second was the whole fact that whoever was behind all of this seemed to be specifically using tech and structures linked to Magneto. After all there was Nanny, the base they had been held in, the mutant power suppression technology and the cybernetic minions had Magneto's fingerprints all over them. While the cybernetic minions and mutant power suppression tech might not be exclusive to the Master of Magnetism Nanny and the base most certainly were. Add to that how much ground a group would have to cover to find it and it was infinitely more likely that this Erik the Red knew exactly where it was because he had been there before. He/She/It would also have to have a passing knowledge of the base's systems, structure and function in order to properly restore them. Not something someone who just stumbled over the base could have done without someone noticing.
Take those two factors into account, add a little Hellmouth paranoia, stir vigorously and you had one sinister plan in the works. A plan he was doing his best to figure out before it was too late to throw some kind of monkey wrench into the plans of this big bad.
"Rogue? You should come in. The temperature's falling out there, and you can survey for Gambit just as well from inside." Beast yelled in order to be heard by the skunk haired mutant over the noise of the protesting engines.
"Cold's no problem, Hank. Ah can see better out here." Rogue yelled back to the blue furred wonder without turning her head, "An' from the sounds 'n' smoke, there may not be an inside ta this craft for much longah."
Have to agree with you on that one Stripes. Xander thought to himself as a particularly bad 'bam' from the engines as it struggled to function, I hope for all our sakes that when this thing finally does its swan song that we'll all be someplace else.
"Beast! Stop!" Rogue yells with some urgency.
"Stopping's no problem. In fact, with this piece of slapdash collapsing, we may have no other choice." Beast declares as he wrestles with the controls to try and bring the vehicle to a stop.
"It's still better than anything I could put together Hank so I'd say you outdid yourself this time." Xander said as he got to his feet and banished his armor.
"I know that, and you know that, but the ship doesn't know—" Beast began to say before a pain-filled groan grabbed everyone's attention by the scruff of their proverbial necks.
Turning to the source Xander saw that whatever had been bothering Joseph for the last while had gone from migraine to Mount Saint Helen's with the platinum blonde grasping his head in an attempt to deal with the pain.
"Joseph?" Bishop inquired as he took a step towards his comrade.
"Stop… please… immediately!" Joseph manages to ground out despite the pain he is feeling, "I feel… I feel…"
"Carsick?" Beast asks in perfect deadpan before helping the ailing mutant to his feet.
"No time for jokes, Beast." Rogue says as she steps just inside of the craft's entrance, "Something's up."
"Fine. Let Joseph out and go look around while we let these engines cool down." Hank stated, apparently a little mad that his attempt at humor was shot down.
"Don't have to tell me twice." Xander said as he beat a Joseph-carrying Beast out the door and into the wide-open space of the Antarctic.
And I left the reasonable warmth of the indoors for the unshielded cold for what reason? Xander asked himself immediately after he was hit with the first cold gust of wind that hit him, Oh yeah! The all too real fear that said indoors would explosively become outdoors with me being spread all over those outdoors!
Watching the hurting Joseph stagger off away from the skimmer, the former Zeppo had to wonder what exactly was causing the pain in the first place. After all this was the first real time since he had met the platinum wonder that Joseph appeared to be ill. Not that he thought that mutants couldn't get sick or anything, but medical problems, whether they were the common cold or a head ache, don't appear so suddenly without a cause. Hopefully some fresh air would do the magnetic mutant some good.
"As my grandfather said, 'You can always paint a cowpie a pretty color but it's still a cowpie when you're done'." Beast said as he examined the engines just in case it was an explosion in the making.
"He actually said that?" Rogue asked with genuine interest.
"Basically, though his language was a tad more… colorful." Beast replied with a slight grimace at the messy state the engines were in.
Xander had to smile at that. Much like himself, Hank did his best to inject some humor even in the worst of situations. It was kind of necessary because otherwise everyone would get all broody like a certain corpse he knew and that could not be allowed.
"NNAAAAHH!" Joseph bellowed as he dropped to his knees in pain, "He's…here…"
This got everyone over to the young Master of Magnetism in a big hurry with Rogue reaching him first.
"Joseph! Who's here?" Rogue asked as she landed at the man's side, "What's the matter?"
"Pray he's not unconscious, Rogue." Beast said as he reached Stripes and Blondie, "He's all that stands between us and freezing to death out here."
Without everyone together grouped around the suffering mutant it was anyone's guess what was wrong with him or how he could be helped. In terms of medical gear they were toast and, depending on how serious the problem was, his only chance of survival would be if Rogue could fly them all back to civilization.
Suddenly something seemed to catch the southern gal's attention and he had a sinking feeling that Joseph just got bumped out of the number one spot of Rogue's list of priorities.
"Oh mah gawd!" Rogue said in disbelief as she picked up a queen of hearts playing card out of the snow, "He is here! Ah don't know how Joseph knew it, but he's right! Remy's here. Ah gave him this card yesterday. He's here but where?"
As if to echo the super strong mutant's emotional state, the snow skimmer's engines decided that right then was the perfect time to blow up. By the time it had registered in everyone's mind it was clear that they would have to seek alternate means of transportation from this point on.
"Well, I guess we won't be putting Joseph back in the skimmer while Rogue searches for Gambit." Xander said conversationally in an attempt to downplay how bad this turn of events was for them.
"You truly have a startling grasp of the obvious, Terran." Deathbird spat out scathingly as her foul mood got worse with the destruction of their only way to civilization.
Choosing to ignore her for the time being, he turned to see if there had been any improvement in Joseph's condition; he was surprised to see that the man had managed to shakily get to one knee. Of course that surprise was quickly topped as in a surge of magnetic power the de-aged Magneto decided to pull off the impossible and raise an entire high tech structure from beneath the snow of the Antarctic. It was huge, easily as tall as the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and looked like something straight out of the Star Wars movies. It wasn't Shi'ar tech, based on his limited exposure to the devices of Cal's people, but it was definitely lightyears ahead of anything your average citizen could possibly know about. For Xander, though, it only added further weight to his belief that whomever was behind this entire drama was seriously powerful and also somehow connected to Magneto. After all, what are the odds that two bases in the Antarctic belong to two different people especially when Joseph, a de-aged Magneto, showed signs of being connected to them both?
Makes you wonder if Gambit might be on to something with Joseph. Xander thought as the snow stirred up by the raising of the structure finished settling.
"My stars and garters, Joe. What is that? And how'd you raise it?" Beast asked in obvious disbelief at what had happened.
"I… I don't know… either." Joseph replied as he shielded his eyes from the sun in order to get a better look at the structure, "What should we… do?"
"We're X-Men sugah. We charge right on into the unknown and save our own." Rogue replied as she began to match actions with her words, "Let's get goin'."
Forming a loose group, they all began to move towards the structure but both he and Deathbird purposely remained at the back of the group as they were likely the only two people who suspected that there was more going on then was readily perceivable.
"You sense it too, don't you terran?" Deathbird asked softly enough that only he would be able to hear her words.
"Yes. Even with his impressive power, Joseph couldn't have raised that structure entirely on his own." Xander replied as he tried to comprehend the ramifications of what he'd just witnessed, "Someone gave him a little help and chances are it's the same someone who is the mastermind behind everything we've been through since we set foot on Earth. 'Course the question then becomes: why did he reveal his hidden fortress to us?"
"Let us go and ask the cur personally." Deathbird stated in a way that made him worry for the well being of the person who would have to answer her questions.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Thirty Minutes Later, Deep Within the Unknown Fortress
This is getting tiresome! Deathbird thought as yet another door within the fortress opened to admit them entry to another room.
For the past half hour she had proceeded along with the X-Men and Xander to explore the inner chambers of the fortress that had been uncovered, aside from a few random trinkets nothing of value that had been found or any clues as to who was behind this game. She did not like the lack of knowledge she was being forced to work with, but the lack of an alternative plan forced her to remain with the mutant rabble in front of her. Xander seemed to be likewise 'irritated' with the lack of progress their covert investigation was making but was doing a superior job of concealing it from the others. As they were the only two to look beneath the surface for the truth of the situation, he likely knew as she did that it would be up to them and them alone to thwart the designs of the enemy. In this she was surprisingly calm, considering how foul things could become if matters took a turn for the worst before she could do anything to prevent it. She supposed it had to do with the fact that she was not alone in her efforts to discern the truth. Since she had first met him, he had proven himself to be a warrior more unto her kind then the sort commonly recruited by the X-Men. While still inferior to her in almost every way, the promise he held was great and so she would use this situation to show Xander how to properly deal with an adversary who liked to hide in the shadows.
As they entered the latest room of many she was pleased to find that this one was a little fuller than the others but with nothing impressive that she could see. In the middle of the room was a statue of a human female dressed in robes with a blindfold covering her eyes, a downward pointed sword in one hand and a primitive weighing device in the other.
"What is this place?" Rogue asked as she got a closer look at the statue, "An' who's she? Is this her fortress?"
"She's justice. Blind Justice, to be precise." Beast replied even though Rogue's question was likely rhetorical, "I thought this citadel might be some forgotten mystery of the Savage Land, but she's a far more northern concept."
"Well, whoever, owns this place, they've got Gambit, and ah want him back. Now." Rogue stated making it clear in no uncertain terms that she would settle for no other outcome than the safe return of her lover, "Let's split up and look around. If there's any trouble—"
"Given the sort of luck we've been running into lately Rogue, I'd say it's pretty much guaranteed that we'll run into trouble sooner or later." Xander stated making it clear what his thoughts were on them separating.
"I'll take the #ahem# basement…" Joseph stated as he began to walk towards a set of stairs leading downwards.
"Joseph? You still havin' trouble?" Rogue asked obviously picking up on the fact that the man was still under the weather like everyone else.
"No, I… I just feel ill." Joseph replied as he reached the top of the staircase.
"You wanna sit this one out?" Rogue asked giving the foolish man a way out before he made a fool of himself.
"I am an X-Man. I will be fine." Joseph stated firmly before disappearing from sight.
Your pride will be your downfall mutant. Deathbird thought with a sneer as she looked away from a Terran she did not expect to see again.
"Very well than Bishop and I will take the next floor up." Beast stated as he strolled over to a staircase leading upwards.
"That leaves the east wing for me and Cal'." Xander stated before walking away with the expectation that he would follow.
While she did not approve of the Terran making the choice for her she did approve staying with him and the area he selected for them to explore. Still she would have to remind him, once they were out of hearing range of the other X-Men, that she would be making any future decisions on their behalf. For it was she who had years of experience in battle and countless victories to her name while he likely could count his the number of battles he's been in on one hand. With her leading them she had no doubt they would discover the true intentions of the puppeteer manipulating them and then teach the fool the price for thinking he could control her.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
One Hour Later
"Well I think it is safe to say that whoever owns this place has a definite fixation on the law." Xander said as he looked at an unrolled scroll of paper that to the best of his knowledge had the 'Jus Civile' or citizen law of Rome written on it, "Maybe it's a bunch of evil lawyers that are behind all of this. What do you think?"
"Unlikely, Terran." Deathbird said as she barely cast a glance at the scroll, "In my experience, such people would sooner commit suicide than step inside such a filthy hovel."
"Did you just make a joke?" Xander asked as his head snapped around to make sure the words had come from Deathbird.
"I was merely stating the truth human." Cal'Syee replied with contempt, "I suppose that a commoner such as you, though, finds humor in many things to prevent depression from sitting in."
"Hahahaha! You know Cal', if you ever get bored of trying to become empress, you should really give the comedy circuit a try." Xander stated as resumed walking through the room to the door on the otherside, "You'd be great as a 'tell it like it is' comedian."
To this comment she did exactly what he expected in that she just gave him the standard 'hmph' and strutted along behind him with a significantly offended look on her face. He was just about to try and say something to lessen the pounding he'd likely get later but before a single sound could leave his lips reinforced steel walls dropped from hidden compartments in all of the doorframes and quickly sealed him and Deathbird inside. Dashing over to the door he had been heading too he quickly used what senses he had to try and figure out if the metal was something Cal' could tear through with her talons or if he was going to have to risk a blast of black flame. Slamming his fist into the metal he quickly came to regret his action as pain shimmied its way up his arm as his force definitely met the immovable object.
"O-kay! Definitely won't be trying that again." He said to himself before he turned to Cal' to see if she'd be willing to try ripping the metal apart.
That plan fell apart though when he saw her unconscious on the floor with what looked like a tranquilizer dart sticking out of the back of her neck. Repressing his first impulse which was to check and see if his partner in the search of this fortress was okay he quickly grabbed a book from one of the shelves lining the walls and waited for the attack he knew would come. Obviously the mastermind behind he and Deathbird had been concerned about had decided that they were too dangerous to be dealt with by a frontal assault and so had chosen a sneakier way of incapacitating them. The lowering of the metal barriers had probably been meant to serve two functions: a)block off any readily available escape routes and b)provide a distraction so that the best of them could be neutralized while she was off her guard. He however had apparently been deemed to be somewhat less dangerous since he wasn't hit with a dart at the same time or to the best of his knowledge at any time afterward. The head honcho probably thought that the flame breath was his only power and believed that it was far top potent to be used in such a confined area. The truth of the matter was that Xander wasn't all that certain what would happen if he tried to use his flame in this room. It was true that to the best of his knowledge there was no substance the black energy couldn't burn through but he had no idea whether or not there were any enhancements or special doo-hickeys implanted in the walls and doors. For all he knew there was some special metal or energy field that might successfully be able to stand up to his dragon's flame and if so it would cause a rebound effect that would send it right back at him.
He was just about ready to consider summoning his armor and enhancing his strength so that he could tear a door open and escape with Cal' when without warning a sharp prick of pain flashed across his senses originating from just above his shoulders. He didn't even bother to find out what had hit him as the growing fatigue and dispersing of his focus told him all he needed to know. The thing he was wondering about as he struggled against the drugs coursing through his system was where the dart had come from in the first place. His senses had been on high alert the moment he had seen Cal'Syee out cold on the ground so he should have heard or seen something in time to defend himself. How could the dart have been fired at him with such precision and speed without giving away the position it had been fired from? Even if it had been fired using air pressure or something he would have heard the faint 'puff' of air that would have accompanied the launching of the dart. It just didn't make sense!
I've got a ba-ad feeling about this! Was the last thought to cross one Xander LaVelle Harris' mind before the world went dark and he went on an involuntary trip to la-la land.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
He woke up who knew what length of time later but when he did he found that he was in one of those 'good-news-bad-news' situations. On the good side he was still alive and judging from the sight of the rest of the X-Men standing alongside him so were they and that was definitely of the good considering they didn't know what was behind everything yet. The bad news though was that they all had heavy-duty restraints on that were definitely the sort with super strong individuals in mind. Looking around he saw that they had three new additions to the group, none of whom he recognized, of which Warren Worthington the Third was the only one he put a name to right then. Not surprising considering he was one of the richest men in the world and one of the few mutants whose true identity was publicly known. He was also someone attached to the X-Men so that made him believe that whoever the puppeteer was behind this game he had a beef with them as well as Gambit. So aside from the purple haired Asian woman and the big African guy with the rabbit's tail hairdo he could see no other new additions.
"So everyone okay?" He asked as he subtley tested the strength of his restraints.
"I will make whoever is responsible for this SUFFER!" Cal'Syee exclaimed angrily as she viciously tried to free herself from her restraints.
"Okay so that's a 'yes' from the high and mighty Deathbird." Xander stated as calmly as he could while taking a step away from the near berserker woman, "Anyone else?"
The others gave indications in the positive as far as their physical state of being which led him to examine the room around them in more detail. In keeping with the theme of the fortress it looked like a courtroom that screamed 'harsh punishment' with its dark décor and sharp edges. Then of course there was the fact that Gambit had his head locked in the business end of a guillotine with both hands tied behind his back. Clearly the architect wasn't a big fan of second chances but was all for the whole 'eye for an eye' way of dealing with the guilty. While Xander was definitely in favor of the punishment fitting the crime he knew that if everyone started wanting an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth it was only a matter of time before they all had seeing-eye dogs and sucked their meals through straws. Still a person with the sort of mindset to live in a place like this was definitely not going to be of the 'warm and understanding school councillor' but rather the 'fire and brimstone preacher' sort.
Hearing the sound of a mechanical door sliding open he turned to see the man who was undoubtedly the host of the show and the man behind their trip to the Antarctic. While the outfit was definitely shiny it also looked like a cross between a Roman gladiator outfit and something from an S&M shop. This did nothing to improve his opinion of the situation because a guy who was into pain and blood-drenched fights to the death was not the sort of person he wanted his life to be in the hands of now or ever. Walking past the 'seats' where the audience would usually sit in a courtroom the man in the shiny red outfit came to the center of the room. The moment he came to a stop a robot that Xander hadn't noticed before, possibly because it had been turned off up until then, rose into the air and used one hand to direct them all to the man in red.
"Erik the Red is arrived for the prosecution!" Declared the robot in a voice that was in no way human.
"Yes, Ferris, I stand ready." Spoke Erik the Red but with a slight distortion to his voice that hinted at mechanical tampering.
"If the prosecution is ready, then let the court confirm its other constituents." Ferris stated as it began its roll call, "The accused! Remy LeBeau. Known at the time of his crimes as Gambit."
"This ain't necessary, you—" Gambit exclaimed before he was cut off by the talking tin can.
"Silence! Speak only when addressed by the court." Ferris yelled with authority before waving its hand in Xander's direction, "The jury! A selection of your peers: Beast, Maggot, Rogue, Psylocke, Bishop, Deathbird and a human male."
"Maggott? Who's—" Gambit tried to ask before he was once again cut off by the talking toaster oven.
"Silence!" Ferris declared before indicating Worthington with one of his arms, "The defender, your fellow X-Man, Archangel."
"Defender? Trial for what? Who are you! Take these restraints off me! This is idiotic—" Worthington declared in clear opposition to being chained up.
"Silence! Speak only when addressed by the court. You—" Ferris stated once more making it clear that speaking without permission was a major no-no as far as it was concerned.
"You are the perfect man for this task, Archangel." Erik declared interrupting the robo-announcer this time around.
"Since I'm shackled, I guess I've got no choice." Worthington said clearly not happy with his lack of options, "But even if I do go along, who's going to judge this 'trial'?"
"We all judge each other in our own ways!" Erik replied in a tone that practically screamed villain.
Oh yeah! This guy isn't out for justice! Xander thought to himself as he gained further insight into what the overall objective for this trial might be.
There was no way that this 'Erik the Red' was going to permit a fair trial or even all anything into evidence that would sabotage the picture he was painting. This was a show trial and it was clear that Remy was getting railroaded into one messy train wreck of a conclusion.
"Lights!" Erik called out and immediately three spotlights lit up on the ceiling to reveal two statues of what he presumed were mutants judging by their looks, "Behind me are the effigies of the souls swept away in an unforgivable holocaust. Many had names lost in the bloody currents of their massacre, but the two behind me were known. Prizm and Scaleface were their names before their brutal deaths. Deaths all but enacted by Remy LeBeau. Gambit! You stand accused of the crime of mass murder of the Morlocks."
Well there's a twist that I didn't see coming! Xander thought as bits and pieces of the tragedy Erik mentioned flew through his mind.
It had been a big news item years ago and, for the most part, people saw it as the horrendous tragedy it was with only a few being so sick so as to cheer at the death of so many innocents. There was never any real follow up done on the story aside from the estimated body count and possible causes, but just about everyone agreed that it was right up there with all the other mass murders in history.
It was right then that Xander knew why Erik had made sure that the X-Men were present for this 'trial' rather than just dealing with Gambit exclusively. Every X-Man was connected to that one event in one manner or another whether it was because he/she was there or because they knew someone else who had been present. This was obviously all arranged to put the X-Men present through an emotional meat-grinder and maybe act as a distraction for some plan Erik had in the near future. After all it is kind of hard to catch on to what the big bad is up too when your lost in your own feelings and memories. With this revelation in mind he was heavily tempted to play his winning hand right now and stop this show trial before it went any further. However he knew there was a chance that if he let this guy go on a little longer he just might give the former Zeppo just enough rope to hang Erik with.
"Hold on a minute… just—Wait a minute. Who in blazes are you?" Worthington asked as he no doubt tried to keep his head clear despite what Erik had said, "Erik the Red isn't real. He's always a cover for someone else. Cyclops, the first time as I recall! Is this your idea of some kind of joke, Scott? Or did you finally snap and go nutso-evil like Professor X? You always did follow his lead. Because whatever else Gambit may be – and we've all had our doubts about him in the past – he's an X-Man first, and one doesn't let the other fall."
"Oh? And when has that ever mattered?" Erik spat in contempt of the winged-man's words, "What have you X-Men really done for your own kind? You shelter one or two within your precious school and leave hundreds of others to fend for themselves? And how do you choose those you will help? Take the attractive and powerful leaving the deformed and destitute Morlocks to live beneath the streets of your city? Allowing them to ingest the refuse of humanity for decades, and then standing idly by while they are exterminated?"
Much as he hated to see that blemish on the X-Men's rep Xander had to admit that he had never once seen a picture of an unattractive X-Man, nor had any member of the team of mutants been a pushover in the power department if the info in the newspapers and TV news reports were accurate. Still he couldn't blame them for being selective about which mutants they decided to help or take into their home. Even if they had Worthington as a financial backer he knew that the amount of money the X-Men had was finite as were the number of locations where mutants could safely live. It was a big world out there and even if mutants made up only a small percentage of the overall population there would still be far too many people to take care of using the Worthington fortune alone. Besides which he was pretty sure this was a case of the pot calling the kettle black since one would think that someone with access to two bases in the middle of the Antarctic would be able to find room for some mutants to make a home.
"Who's on trial here? Dem or me?" Gambit asked in order to draw the heat away from his comrade.
"Point well taken. It is most definitely you, boy." Erik replied as he turned his hateful gaze from Mr. Wings to the Cajun.
"Stopped bein' a boy long ago." Gambit said defiantly despite the precarious position his neck was in.
"And yet you still don't act like a man." Erik roared back almost spraying spittle on Remy's face, "A man would confess his crimes and accept his punishment."
"I confess that I done some t'ings I'm ashamed of." Remy admitted with true regret and self-loathing, "But dese ain't de people what need t'hear my apology."
"No! Those people are dead! At your hands!" Erik yelled in rage and with clenched fists, "Therefore, our ears and ours alone will have to serve as witnesses for your atrocities!"
"Hank? You notice someone who should be here, but ain't?" He heard Rogue whisper to his right.
"Who? Oh… you're right. He is the only one of us unaccounted for." Beast replied after doing a quick head count, "It has to be him, but why? Why would he do this?"
Taking a look around to figure out what the two of them were talking about it didn't take long for Xander to discover that there was indeed one of their group not present at the moment. Deciding to check to see if his suspicions were correct he tapped into the power of Kung Lung to enhance his vision and 'scan' Erik the Red to see if Rogue was right about his true identity. It took a moment to sift through the various bits of info his eyes were relaying to him but eventually he saw what he needed to see. Right there coating the man head to toe was an aura that was virtually identical to the one he had seen covering Joseph once before. It was a little weaker and marginally more stable but that could easily be attributed to the de-aged Magneto feeling a little under the weather earlier. Maybe the guy had developed a split personality or something? Crazier things had happened.
"Joseph!" Rogue yelled apparently determined to test her little theory, "What's this all about!"
This unfortunately only seemed to piss off ol' Erik even more which judging from the way his aura flared up was not a smart thing to do.
"Joseph? Don't disgrace me with such ludicrous assertions." Erik stated coldly and with true hate in his eyes, "Were Gambit's own recriminations not so abhorrent, Joseph would be the one tried this day. Ferris! Show their pathetic accomplice into our court."
A few moments later a figure was dragged into the 'courtroom' by two robots that took Xander's positive I.D and shredded it to pieces. There, badly beaten and barely conscious, was Joseph who looked like he had gone twenty rounds with Buffy with the Slayer using numerous blunt objects while he had nothing. With no care or restraint the robots tossed Joseph to the ground causing the young man to groan in pain before attempting to push himself off the ground. With his mind screaming 'system error!' Xander focused on Joseph in order to confirm that it was indeed him by reading the battered man's aura. Unfortunately this only served to further confuse the son of Jessica and Anthony Harris since aside from the differences he had detected in Erik's aura the two were virtually identical. How could that be? Were they twin brothers? Were they alternate reality counterparts of each other? Or were they--?
Yes! That has to be it! Xander thought as seemingly irrelevant pieces of information came together to form a picture that made almost everything make sense, But why is he being such a drama queen and arrange this fancy show for us?
"This 'Joseph' is sickening. He renounced who and what he truly is and then embraced his mortal foes, becoming one of them." Erik spat out with disgust, "He has already been judged and found so unworthy as to not even be allowed to waste the time of this esteemed court."
With those words 'Erik' the Red turned his focus back to Remy and Xander was left re-evaluating his strategy for handling the situation. Looking over at Cal'Syee he could see that while she seemed to be enthralled by the drama happening before her she was still paying attention to every detail. Details like his eyes glowing extra bright and the look of shock that anyone but her would most likely have missed. Shaking his head slightly to indicate that they should wait a little longer he turned back to the 'prosecuter' to see where 'Erik' took things.
"But enough speculation. Will you confess to these people the crime you have committed?" Erik asked with a determined glare.
"Which one?" Gambit asked answering one question with another.
"We speak here not of your petty larcenies, Remy LeBeau. We speak of your blood betrayal… the blackest moment in your long line of blasphemous actions." Erik replied as he gripped Gambit's jaw firmly with his right hand.
"If you mean me dealin' with Sinister, then sure." Gambit stated with hung head and guilt-laced words, "I'll admit it. I worked for him… had a heart of ice back den. Belladonna was dead. Didn't care if I lived or died. Figured I'd never love again, so I cast my fate wit' whoever come my way. Turned out ta be someone sinister."
"Wanted me ta assemble some mercs ta break into an impenetrable community." Gambit explained as his words became more and more lifeless, "He had somethin' I needed… badly… so I agreed. They were big, ugly an' mean. Did what I was paid t'do."
Don't know who this Sinister guy was but judging from the shock, disbelief and manifesting anger showing on the faces of the rest of the X-Men he guessed the baddie was right up there with Angelus in terms of sheer evil. He imagined that Gambit's revelation was probably the same as if Oz revealed that he had helped Deadboy Evil rob the local blood bank or something. Definitely something bad but he had a gut feeling that the worst was yet to come.
"You… you worked for MR.Sinister?" Beast exclaimed in disbelief, "And didn't tell us?"
"What? You were in bed with one of our greatest enemies!" Rogue yelled with equal shock and denial, "For how long, Remy? For how long!"
"T'ain't like dat, Rogue. It was somethin' I'd done, and wasn't none too proud of but once I joined you X-Men, I put all dat behind me. Just like you did once, chere. Remember?" Gambit replied with desperation in his voice as he tried to stop his love from looking at him the way she was at that moment.
"You cannot set aside your past!" Erik bellowed in an attempt to verbally obliterate Gambit's defence of himself, "A man's character is the sum of his actions."
"Exactly, and this man has proved himself time and time over. I don't like what I'm hearing, but the fact is men can change what they are. They can escape the darkness in their souls." Worthington stated rising to the defense of his fellow X-Man, "I reclaimed mine from Apocalypse, Joseph turned his own life around, and Gambit—"
"Fool! Gambit is directly responsible for the darkness that befell you!" Erik declared before the blue billionaire could continue, "You are quick to defend a man who so permanently scarred you, Archangel."
Oh yeah! This guy is putting the emotional screws to the X-Men big time! Xander thought as he felt another turn in the tide of emotions coming up, I wonder though if he'd act so self-rightious if it was him on trial instead of Gambit.
"What… do you mean? Gambit?" Worthington asked his friend in order to find a way out of his confusion, "What's he talking about?"
"Nothin'." Was Gambit's only reply as he refused to look at his friend.
"Tell him, Gambit, exactly who it was that you so efficiently assembled that night." Erik demanded with a stern look on his face, "Tell them all how much evil you and you alone congregated in the name of greed."
"Had nothin' t'do with greed, blast you!" Gambit yelled in anger as the Cajun likely began to figure out the true purpose of this 'trial', "I got nothin' more ta say in front of dem. Whoever you are, you already must know what you're gettin' at. You tell 'em if you want. Tell us all an' get it over with."
"I... I know what it is." Psylocke stated hesitantly as if she was about to reveal something that could hurt her reputation among her friends as well.
"Betsy?" Worthington asked with barely hidden fear.
"The prosecution calls Psylocke to testify!" Erik said wasting no time in using ammo that could potentially hurt Gambit's case even more.
"I know the names of some of those he assembled: Arclight, Scrambler, Scalphunter, Vertigo, Harpoon, Riptide and Sabretooth." Betsy, aka Psylocke, stated as she listed the names of the mercenaries Remy had gathered, "Evil beings with one intention: to become marauders of the underground and destroy any Morlocks they found there... all because that madman Sinister deemed their existence scientifically useless. These memories have been locked away in my mind for months since I mindlinked with Remy."
Xander didn't know the names of she mentioned from the cast of the latest reality TV show but to hear that someone... a sentient being... had assembled a team of killers to wipe out mutants with little or no way to defend themselves sickened him. However unlike the rest of the X-Men he didn't cast any of the blame for the massacre at Remy. He was smart enough to realize that if Sinister wanted the Morlocks dead then it wouldn't have mattered whether Gambit was involved or not. One way or another than monster would have found a way to make it happen making it only a matter of bad luck that the Cajun had gotten involved.
"Not sayin' it ain't true. But I am saying a man can change. I don't want anyone ta forget what I done... jus' forgive." Gambit said sounding all but defeated, "I suspected Psylocke knew dis secret. Could've killed her long ago and silenced de secret forever, but I didn't. I ain't no villain."
Needless to say he didn't have to wait long for the mindless ranting and raving to start but he was surprised it was Worthington rather than Rogue.
"You created the Marauders! You cost me my wings! You did that to me!" Warren yelled with an emotion beyond hatred in his voice, "And then you stood by my side – pretended to be my friend – and never said a damn word about any of it! I should drop that blade on your neck myself, you traitor!"
And just like the vengence crazed lunatics on TV Mr. Wings only sees what he wants to see. Xander thought shaking his head with a sigh, Almost makes me want to call up Buffy and say I'm sorry for not looking at the whole thing she had with Angel from all points of view. Almost but not quite.
"And you knew about it? All this time and you never told me?" Worthington yelled at Betsy.
"I didn't know. I mean, I did, but it only now came back to me, Warren. After all I've been through –" Psylocke replied as she tried to defend her choice not to reveal what she knew before today.
"Save it, Betsy... just..." Warren said unable to even finish what he was going to say to his most likely ex-girlfriend, "And you, Gambit. You can defend yourself. I'd like to see you try—"
"There is no defense." Erik the Red declared smugly, "Of course, this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. More of a falling glacier, to be exact. But, as the defendant has shown a distinct lack of cooperation in this matters, the prosecution will call a special witness who can get more fully to the heart of the matter. The court calls the reformed villainess Rogue to the defendant's box."
It didn't take Xander even a second to figure out what 'Erik' had in mind or what after effects the asshole's methods would have on the relationship between the two X-Men. Deciding that enough was enough and it was time for action he decided to get everyone's attention in his usual unique manner.
"Well I think I've seen enough." He said as tried to sound as bored as possible, "You know you villain types should really cut down on the melodrama in your master plans because, quite frankly, you'll lose the audience if you overdo it."
"Silence! Only speak when addressed by the—" Ferris attempted to say once again.
"Oh shut the hell up you poor excuse for an artificial intelligence!" Xander yelled back with authority before turning to 'Erik', "Really Erik couldn't you have designed him a little better? I mean, you have all this tech at your disposal and THAT is the best you could come up with! My best bud back home could do better and she's barely out of high school for crying out loud!"
"Silence boy! You are only here to observe the proceedings!" snarled Erik as he clearly didn't like being interrupted when he was winding up for the big finale.
"Well exxcccuuse me for having no tolerance for listening to a hypocrite go on and on about punishing someone for mass murder when he's dodged punishment for the same crime himself!" Xander said as he snarled right back at the jackass.
This of course neatly completed his plan of getting everyone's attention focused on him and would be perfect for his big finale.
"You know who Erik the Red is Xander?" Beast asked both surprised and supremely interested.
"Oh I know who he is alright!" Xander replied as he prepared to make his big play, "And I'll prove it right NOW!"
With that final word he summoned his armor in a flash of light and thanks to the decidedly insufficient lighting in the courtroom it had the added of temporarily blinding everyone in the room. Of course that wasn't all as it also shattered the restraints keeping him tied down since the metal shackles suddenly found themselves to be one size too small. However he didn't take any time to take pride in the fact that his hunch had proven correct where the armor was concerned since he knew that 'Erik' would soon recover. Leaping over the barrier that had been placed in front of all the 'jurors' he tapped into the power of Kung Lung and enhanced his strength, speed and agility until it was just below where he bet Spider-Man was in those areas. Charging across the room he was more than halfway to his target before the red clad man flung his left hand out and stopped him in his tracks with some unseen power. However Xander had been expecting this from the beginning so with a single mental command he banished his armor and with it Erik the Red's sole means of holding him. Freed from the unseen power he continued to charge forward with barely a second's pause between being stopped by 'Erik' and freeing himself.
"I think it's time you stopped fooling around 'Erik' and showed everyone your true face!" Xander said with superhuman agility and speed he leapt at his target.
However it was not his intention to tackle the man to the ground or to actually strike him. No the move he had in mind would do far more damage to Erik the Red than any physical attack could possible do. Once he was safely in reach he grabbed ahold of the sides of Erik's mask and as his momentum began to carry him up into a headstand above his target's cranium his arms yanked as hard as they could in opposite directions. Like Hulk Hogan tearing his shirt off before a match so too did Erik's mast tear revealing his face for all to see.
"MAGNETO!" exclaimed Beast, Worthington and Psylocke.
"But… how?" Rogue managed to ask just barely as it looked like her head was going to go into overload.
"I had the same question when I figured it out, but I think I got it all worked out now." Xander replied as he dropped the torn mask and let his momentum dry up, "The way you guys tell it, you stumbled across 'Joseph' a little before that whole mess with Onslaught and assumed that just because he looked like Magneto and had the same powers, that it was really him. You just wrote off his fountain of youth looks and amnesia as a by-product of how he survived your last fight with him.
"I thought that too until horn head here had Joseph dragged in here." Xander said as he turned to face the newly revealed true Master of Magnetism, "All it took was a quick look at both to figure out what was going on. Next time, Maggy, you might want to be a bit more thorough with your disguise before the curtain goes up."
"Damn you for your interference!" Magneto yelled angrily as he realized that his plan to destabilize the X-Men had blown up in his face.
"Get in line buddy!" Xander retorted as he hoped that the X-Men could take advantage of Erik Lensherr's attention being focused on him to escape from their restraints, "Counting you I got about seventy people, demons and vampires damning me for something!"
"Then it is a shame that they will not have the chance to exact their revenge!" Magneto yelled in anger as he began to thrust his right hand in Xander's direction with undoubtedly numerous bloody things in his mind as far as what to do to the obnoxious youth that had ruined his plans.
Fortunately for Xander several people took exception to the Master of Magnetism's declaration and decided to make their positions on the subject bluntly known. Surprisingly enough, it was Deathbird who got to Magneto first and let him know what she thought of the 'kill Xander painfully' plan by slashing him across the chest with the talons that tipped each of her fingers and both thumbs. While the man's outfit did provide him with some protection from the way he was clutching his chest after flinging Cal' away with his powers, the Shi'ar Regent had managed to do some serious damage.
"It would seem that matters are coming to an unexpected close here boy!" Magneto growled as he edged backwards a few steps, "I will remember this! Ferris! To my chambers! It is time to bring this all to an end!"
With those words Lensherr made a violent gesture to the ceiling and almost immediately the entire fortress began to shake like Willow after too many cups of coffee. From there came the falling debris and the obvious signs of a self-destruct device all villains seemed to have built into their not-so-hidden lairs.
"Uh-oh! He's bringing the house down!" Beast said with significant concern, "We have to evacuate! Immediately! Psylocke, help Joseph. Rogue, you—"
"Ah'll help Gambit" Rogue said as she flew towards the guillotine her lover was trapped in.
"Not alone, you're not." Xander muttered to himself as he headed for the Cajun as well with Deathbird right behind him.
He knew that Rogue cared for Gambit, that much was made obvious at several points since he had bumped into the X-Men, but given the revelations that Magneto had pulled out for all to see he didn't trust her to be thinking with a clear head.
"No, Rogue! Save yourself!" Gambit yelled as the three of them arrived at the guillotine.
"Everyone! Gather here in my shadows." Betsy yelled from across the room, "I can teleport us! Quickly!"
"Let the walls come down on me, chere." Gambit said in defeat as though he was perfectly willing to let himself be crushed to death by the collapsing fortress.
"Ah won't jus' leave you in here to die." Rogue said her voice thick with churning emotions, "And self-pity really don't suit you, Remy."
Once Rogue had successfully snapped the top of the guillotine off and broke the top half of the metal plate holding Gambit Xander immediately threw the man over his shoulder as quick as he could and made a dash for where he could see Psylocke holding her 'shadows' open waiting for them. He could hear a surprised noise from Rogue as she no doubt had intended to be the one to fly her lover to 'safety' but due to his earlier concerns about her mental state he believed it was too risky to leave Gambit for her to deal with. Reaching the shadows that Psylocke was holding open he looked at her for a moment as if to ask 'what do I do now'.
"Just walk through it you git!" she exclaimed clearly impatient for him, Deathbird, Gambit and Rogue to pass through so she could follow and close her 'shadows' behind her.
Not questioning an angry Brit, a female one at that, he charged through the shadows and almost immediately wished he hadn't as his senses went from normal to 'thirty-minutes-in a blender-on-frapee'.
I hate it when this happens! He thought to himself as he fought to remain conscious and keep his lunch on the inside where it belonged.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
X-Mansion Front Lawn, Exactly Thirty Minutes After Leaving Antarctica
"Note to self: never EVER travel by shadow with that woman AGAIN!" Xander said out loud as he tried to keep what he had on the Shi'ar cruiser from coming up the way it went down.
Unlike some people might think traveling by unusual means did NOT get any easier the second time around. The first jump had been to Warren's penthouse so SoHo, Manhattan in order to get Joseph some medical attention and because Betsy said she needed to take a breather from teleporting so many people. From the looks the Brit-speaking Asian was receiving from the others, there was a distinct feeling in his gut that she wasn't being entirely truthful. Of course he didn't have a lot of time to look at Psylocke as Worthington tried twice to attack Gambit in a fit of rage and only a solid punch from Rogue and a threat of losing his wings a second time from the Xan-man stopped him from making good on his threats. Once Joseph had recovered enough, as evidenced by him using his powers to re-arrange a blanket he had been given so as to repair his uniform, Betsy opened up another shadow portal that would put them on the front lawn of the X-Men's HQ. Warren had stiffly stated that he'd be staying at his apartment to clean up the damage caused by someone called 'Iceman' and Betsy said that she'd just be dropping all of them off before returning to the penthouse to help Worthington.
Fine by me! Any time spent away from Mr.'Needs-Anger-Management-Classes' is time well spent as far as I'm concerned. Xander thought to himself as he looked up to see the front door of the mansion completely demolished, Looks like someone else with the same kinda problem decided to pay the X-Men a visit. Ah the fun never ends does it!
Not even taking a minute to blurt out the clichéd 'what the hell' question, everyone ran for the demolished front door hoping to both find out what had happened and if it was trouble that they weren't too late to help their friends. Judging from the monster sized footprints that Xander could see starting at the front step he was betting something big and nasty had decided to make a house call on the team of mutants. As they reached the front door they could hear the tail end of some dimwitted jock's not so witty sarcasm.
"…the 'stoppable on weekends' one! Besides… procrastinatin's fer wimps." Spoke the idiotic jock voice that was apparently coming from the red tank with arms and legs that was standing about halfway up a staircase, "Why put off beatin' the tar outtta the X-Chumps 'till tomorrow when ya can kill them real good today?"
"Because the worthless life you save may be your own." Declared Joseph who was apparently trying to sound more fit and healthy than he actually was, "Get out of our house."
"Well put, Joseph. However you might want to try again, using a more elementary sentence structure if you catch my ever-so-subtle witticism regarding the man's cognitive faculties" Beast said as he looked ready to intercept if the red-armored behemoth decided to charge them, "What about, 'Jug-gey go'? Give it a whirl."
"Well, well. The gang's all here an' we even have three newbies here for me to squash." The giant sized armored jock remarked before asking, "So who's gonna be first? The Black Ranger? Mr. Bait-and-tackle? Or is Little Miss Feather Duster gonna tickle me to death?"
"You dare to--!" Deathbird yelled as she prepared to move forward to make the titan regret his choice of aliases for her.
"Easy Cal'! Something tells me taking on chrome dome on steroids there isn't—" was as far as he got trying to keep Deathbird from changing this from a standoff to an all-out brawl before she grabbed his restraining arm and threw him at mach 3 over her shoulder towards the nearest wall.
Needless to say the unexpected flight and sudden impact left him dazed for a few minutes but he could still hear what was going on around him.
"What is Deathbird doing here?" A regal yet smooth woman's voice asked with surprise, "Who is he?"
He knew without looking that Regal woman was talking about him but as he slowly got to his feet he was a little more concerned on Cal' resuming her charge on Chrome Dome.
"The volatile Regent Deathbird was our escort on the return journey from Shi'ar space Storm." Beast replied as diplomatically as he could, "Due to an unforeseen encounter with a U.F.O, the ship barely managed to survive passing through the stargate. As for the rest… I believe it would be wise to wait until the current crisis has passed."
"HAW-haw! Ain't this precious! It's finally caught up to ya, hasn't it!" Juggy said with a mighty laugh, "After all the Onslaughts an' Sentinels am' the Zero Tolerances you punks've lost it! Yer fallin' apart! HAW-HAW!"
"Silence! Cease your laughter or by Sharra I will have your blood dripping from my hands!" said Deathbird threateningly as Juggy's laughter seemed to only make her madder.
He was just about to try to calm the Shi'ar regent down a second time when the scream of a man in true agony ripped through the air stopping everyone cold.
"Storm! I need a big assist here! NOW!" Came the voice of a woman who sounded like she was used to calling the shots in a crisis, "Jean lost her grip on the bomb and Scott's awake!"
This of course froze people in shock squared compared to what the scream of pain had done especially with the mention of the word 'bomb'.
"'scuse me?" Came a shocked question from the eight foot tall mountain of muscle that ten seconds ago was ready, willing and able to tear them all to pieces and enjoy it.
"Hank! The doctor needs your medical expertise – Joseph, contain that device!" The woman called Storm asked urgently as she looked at something out of sight on the upper levels.
"If you'll pardon me gang for just a twinkling," Beast said as he leapt high into the air to the upper level clearing the railing easily, "Time for the e'er bombastic Beast to dazzle the ladies with indescribable feats of intrepidity. No flash photography, please."
"Ain't you gonna hop to, longhair?" Juggy asked Joseph sarcastically.
"Not until I finish—" replied Joseph looking ready to unleash the full fury of his mutant powers on the giant in red armor.
"Hold on Joseph. The big nasty ticking piece of doom up there seems just a tad more urgent than dealing with this guy." Xander said as he stopped the copy of Magneto from doing something rash and summoned his armor.
"Yeah. Go do what you do best, and let the rest of us handle the light work." Said the African named Maggot with confidence, "I'm Maggott, you're biscuit, hey?"
"What… exactly… are you guys supposed to be?" Juggy asked as he tried to figure out who exactly the two punks were who were trying to intimidate him, "A Power Ranger and a Bait and tackle salesman?"
Xander let out a growl all his own at once AGAIN being compared to those cardboard cut out teen heroes. He had a distinct feeling in his gut that this was going to be a recurring theme in his life and mentally made note to pay Strange back later.
"We're the last things you'll see before you take an unscheduled nap." Xander said trying to inspire the sort of fear Vader could in the movies, "I haven't decided whether or not you'll be allowed to wake up again later."
"And how do you suppose that's going to happen when I leave you a few vital organs short of a full set?" Juggy asked clearly not impressed or intimidated by words alone.
"Eeny… if you please?" Maggott asked the metal slug on his right arm as he pointed it in the direction of a previously unseen lawyer.
The man was apparently trying to find a safe way to get out of dodge but given that he was surrounded by people of varying powers he obviously figured it would be easier said than done. When he spotted the slug called Eeny heading towards him though he went rigid with terror and fainted dead away when the metal bug ate right through his briefcase.
"They eat through anything… everything" Maggott said as Eeny began to head back towards him, "…least of all vrot stoepkakkers like yourself."
"Of course they might prefer their meal cooked a little before they dig in." Xander said as he produced just enough black flame from his mouth to provide a visual hint of what he was referring to, "Personally I'm thinking they'd like it well done. Maggott?"
"Let the girls get a few chomps in first." Maggott replied as the second slug he was carrying crawled to the floor to join Eeny and the two of them got into position to chow down on Juggy, "Then if they want some extra crispy you can fix 'em right up."
"HAHA! You kids got chutzpah! I'll give you that!" Juggy said as he gave them both a strong slap on the shoulders like they were old friends or something, "You make me smile. No food, no cash, big hole inna roof, the Boy Scout's on his last legs and the best and brightest new X-men threaten the unstoppable Juggernaut with killer slugs and a bad case of morning breath! Ha!"
"I don't need t'spend time beatin' ya senseless… you're doing it to yourselves!" Juggernaut said as he picked up the unconscious lawyer and jumped down to ground level, "See ya in a month or two… when yer all beggin' me to take over this dump! GIANT SLUGS AND A POWER RANGER… HA! I bet Charlie's fallin' out of his wheelchair over that one!"
With that the titan called the Unstoppable Juggernaut, a being considered to be right up there with the Incredible Hulk, vanished into the slowly dissipating mist encircling the mansion.
"Good show, dolls… he knew he couldn't take us." Maggott said to his two metal slugs, "Would've sent his tin-canned self home with hap marks all down his guava."
"Excuse me, but…" Storm asked casting a wary look at Maggott, "…you are not well… are you?"
"Frankly lady I think we're all a little crazy." Xander said as he banished his armor and turned to her, "He's just a little more nuts considering he's talking to a pair of metal slugs like they're beach bunnies."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
An Hour Later, Top Floor at the Rear of the Mansion
"So is it always like this or did your friends set this up to impress me?" Xander asked the Cajun from his place by the window.
It had been tense for everyone after the Juggernaut left as not only did the life of the leader of the X-Men hang in the balance but also the threat of the bomb which was apparently designed to entomb everything in the blast radius with grey goop. Needless to say it was a tense couple of minutes with most of the X-Men not part of the group that had gone to the Shi'ar Empire looking at him, Maggott and Deathbird warily. Once the problem of the bomb was dealt with, in a most unique if slightly disgusting way, it was pretty much 'make Cyclops comfortable and make yourselves at home' for everyone. For him that meant sticking close to Gambit to make sure none of the others tried anything with him should the details of the 'trial' come out. He hoped that once everyone calmed down they could walk through the info with calm heads and try to come up with a more humane resolution than Magneto's off with his head approach. He knew he didn't have all the facts about the Morlock massacre and that he was just going with his own gut on this but he had a feeling that the event was a lot more complicated than it looked. From the way they had been talking and reaction to the mention of this Sinister guy he had to be a major player for the side of badness. If that was the case then why did he hire a middle-man like Gambit to recruit the Marauders or to locate the Morlocks in the first place? It just didn't jibe with what he knew about bad guys.
While it's true that most uber-villains don't get their hands dirty this 'Mr.Sinister' doesn't seem like the type to allow for too many loose ends in his plans. Xander thought as he looked to where Cal' was sitting and fuming about something, So either Gambit doesn't know anything useful or the Cajun is part of some larger plan.
"Pretty much mon amie." Gambit replied with a faked example of his roguish charm, "Though usually we have a li'le more in de way of furniture an' the like set 'bout the place."
"No prob'. Least this place smells better than my last apartment." Xander said as he turned to look at the Cajun directly, "As long as none of you X-Men are chain smokers then I consider this place a step up in accommodations for me."
For a moment it looked like Remy wanted to say something but was having difficulty putting it into words.
"If you got something to say Remy just say it, okay?" Xander said trying to make it clear that Gambit could be perfectly honest and blunt with him.
"Why you make sure that you was the one dat got me to Betsy's shadow 'stead of Rogue?" Asked the Cajun with interest.
"What do you mean?" asked Xander given that he didn't want to give an explanation that might portray Rogue in a bad light.
Gambit just stared him down making clear that he was going to get an answer one way or another.
"Sigh Look the truth is I was afraid she was going to do something terminal to you or something." Xander replied as he avoided looking Gambit in the eye, "I don't know who this Sinister guy is but judging by how the others looked at you like you were that traitor guy from the Bible, it didn't take much imagination to see where things might go if I didn't do something. Plus I don't think you deserve as much punishment as everyone thinks you do."
"What d'ya mean by dat?" Gambit asked with lack of understanding clearly on his face.
"Yes, Terran, what do you mean?" Deathbird asked apparently interested enough by the topic of conversation to take time out from her fume session.
"Well for one thing this Sinister strikes me as being the clever/cunning sort with tech decades ahead of anything most governments have." Xander replied trying to summarize his theory and thoughts, "If that's true than why did he hire Gambit at all? If he had the tech and resources to recruit the Marauders on his own why hire someone else to do it for him? Even if he wanted a middle-man to make the offer in his place once he had the mercs why not just have them find the Morlock tunnels? There are just too many things he could have done for himself instead of hiring Gambit. Bad guys at his level generally aren't big on wasted resources or effort, ya know?"
"You are proposing that this 'Sinister' had an ulterior motive for hiring Gambit?" Cal' asked apparently willing to go along with his theory for the time being.
"Yeah I guess I am. I'll have to ask around before I can say for sure, but right now I think that you were being played by Sinister from the beginning Remy." Xander replied as he looked at the Cajun, "Now let's settle in for the night. I gotta head into Manhattan tomorrow and get a few things from Doc Strange."
Both Deathbird and Gambit looked like they wanted to talk further and hammer out the specifics of his theory, especially the Cajun, but the two of them had to concede that it had been a busy day and could use some rest. So walking around a bit they all found someplace reasonably comfortable in the room to lay down and fell to sleep.