The Sinister Solution
Chapter Fourteen:
X-23
Laura felt torn. Should she intervene between Gambit and Magneto or remain at Julian's side while he struggled with his new power? She could smell deadly malice wafting off Gambit's Death persona. Magneto with his broken powers and aged body didn't stand a chance, but his stubborn, Holocaust survivor mind would never bow down to a challenge.
"You have to stop him," Julian panted. He gripped Laura's knee with his metallic hand. The strength of his grip was enough to bruise her patella. Had she been without healing factor, it would have been difficult for her to walk.
"No, you have to stop him," Laura argued. "Go into Gambit's mind. Magneto doesn't know about what happened to Rogue or Scarlet Witch."
Julian nodded, his eyes glowed green as his telekinetic powers rose in defense. Subconsciously, he'd covered both his body and Laura's body inside of a green telekinetic shield.
"Explain yourself!" Magneto growled. "What do you mean by dead?"
'Magneto doesn't know about Rogue or Wanda,' Julian said telepathically into both Laura and Gambit's minds. 'Calm yourself! Gambit, if you keep at this he will know!'
"You'll find out soon enough when I send you to the afterlife," Gambit as Death promised. He swung his bo-staff in a full rotation knocking against Magneto's chin and sent him tumbling back. Erik crashed into a trash receptacle, crushed it under his weight, and also flattened the nearby shrubbery.
"Everyone is dead when he's in this form," Laura explained, addressing Magneto. The older mutant cradled the side of his head with his palm. The green telekinetic shield around her and Julian dropped. Julian rose to his feet, his balance a little unsteady.
Gambit ran towards Magneto with his staff raised high and deadly intent in his crimson eyes. The blow that would have split Magneto's head in two never hit. A green barrier formed between them.
"Enough!" Julian shouted.
Magneto groaned and leaned his head back against the trash receptacle. Blood began to trickle out of his right nostril and one of his eyes began to swell shut.
The shock of the telekinetic shield seemed to have jarred something in Gambit. His skin paled and his hair darkened. He shook his head as Death receded and his normal persona resurfaced. "Merde. Pas de nouveau," he mumbled.
Laura sniffed the air. Mixed within the island nation's thick, humid air was a familiar scent that she'd not sniffed for nearly two years. A figure wearing a dark cloak that hid his face entirely stalked towards Magneto's bloody and bruised body. The figure crouched next to Magneto and touched him with a golden hand against his injured face.
The cloaked figure stood and stepped away from the healthy and whole man on the ground. He pushed back the hood to reveal a face that was half gold and half onyx. Elixir.
Josh's golden eyes roamed between Gambit, then Julian, and finally Laura. "It's been some time since I've come across any X-men."
"You, you have fixed me, boy," Magneto whispered as tears filled his eyes. He stared down at his open palms. "I can feel the earth's magnetism like I haven't in years." He stood and the crushed trash receptacle was reshaped back into its original form.
"As part of the Phoenix force you really did a number on the world," Josh said, pulling his hood back over his head and obscuring his face in shadow. "For a while, it was a better place. You didn't deserve to be broken for trying to do the right thing for once in your life."
"You have no idea what you have done for me," Magneto said. His posture straightened and he took a deep breath. "I did not come here for a fight," he said turning his attention back to Gambit. "When you hear from Rogue, see that she calls me. I worry." Without another word, Magneto with his power of magnetism levitated above them and shot off into the distant sky.
"Look, I came here because I didn't want to be bothered," Josh said. His golden gaze penetrated from the shadows of his cloak's hood and landed upon Julian and Laura.
"We came here in hopes of finding you," Laura explained hurriedly. She'd practiced what she would say when they found Elixir, but it all felt really stupid now. "We need your help. I need teammates that I can rely upon. I have very few whom I consider to be my friend. You are among that select few."
Josh began to laugh quietly. He lifted his hands outside of his cloak to reveal one golden hand and one onyx hand. "This was the first time I've been capable of healing a person. My powers are more challenging than ever when you knew me. I am a liability, not reliable."
"I believe in you, Elixir," Julian said.
Josh sighed and let his arms fall back to his side, his hands hidden within the folds of the cloak once more. "You were always a good friend to me," he said looking at Laura. He then focused on Julian. "There were times when you seemed the spoiled, rich boy and other times I could see your true aim of wanting to gain your potential. You never betrayed a teammate, no matter if you agreed with their methods. I've always respected that about you."
"Then give us a chance to make our offer," Laura pleaded.
"All right, come with me," Josh said.
OoO
Hellion
Josh led the three of them down a series of dark, twisted alleyways. He stopped at a non-descript door and opened it. "Home, sweet home," he proclaimed. Inside the small apartment was a futon, laptop computer, a refrigerator, and a microwave. "Bathroom is the closed door down the hall," Josh said. He shrugged out of his cloak and tossed it over the lone armchair in the corner. "It's not much, but it suffices."
Julian sat on the end of the futon and looked around the room. Gambit set his trench coat over Josh's discarded cloak. He no longer looked like Death, but the cool, calm Cajun thief they knew well. Julian allowed his new powers to scan the surface of his companions' thoughts. Gambit berated himself for losing his cool with Magneto. Laura wondered about how they might convince Elixir to join them. And as far as Josh was concerned, he debated whether or not he should kill them all and disappear into relative obscurity or listen to them.
'You found him?' Anja asked Julian telepathically.
'We did. Its a delicate situation,' Julian thought back. 'How the heck did you find my mind amongst all these others?'
'You want us to steer clear, got it. And in regard to your question, the answer is simple. I am your teacher. I can recognize your mental signature amongst thousands. With non-telepaths the range is shorter, but I was able to piggy back off your natural strength. We'll discuss this more at our next tutorial. Page me when Elixir agrees. Warpath is stalking after one named Mystique right now. He said, he senses that she's up to no good,' Anja answered. 'Let Gambit know that I already secured us a nice three bedroom suite at that Skyrise Hotel near the shore.'
'Gambit, Anja already got us a hotel room. Big suite,' Julian said into Gambit's mind. The older mutant jumped at the unexpected mental intrusion. He said nothing, but nodded his head briefly in Julian's direction.
"What's this offer?" Josh asked.
"We need your help to restore Rogue's body that has been burnt to a crisp," Laura started. She sat on the futon next to Julian, her thigh pressed against his leg. "Then, we plan to venture into Hell and retrieve her soul. If you're interested, you may join us on our sojourn into the afterlife where you might find Laurie and find some closure."
Josh burst into laughter. "Only you would offer a trip to Hell as an incentive!"
"Are you in?" Gambit asked, his tone impatient. He began to pace across the small apartment.
"Let me think upon the matter," Josh said. "Do you trust me?" he asked Julian. He crouched on the floor in front of the futon.
"Yes," Julian answered without hesitation. He sensed that if he hesitated, whatever confidence they had established with the volatile Elixir would be lost.
Josh extended his hand towards Julian's arms. He stopped just centimeters from one of his prosthetic appendages. "This will hurt a lot," he warned.
"Wait!" Laura protested. She quickly loosened her belt from her jeans and ignored the wide-eyed look Julian shot her. "Trust me," she said sticking the thick, leather belt between his teeth. "I've regrown an appendage. It hurts. A lot."
Julian tried to spit out the belt, but Laura held firm and gave him a warning look. 'I didn't come here in hopes that Josh might heal my damaged body!' he said to her telepathically.
"No, you didn't," Laura answered aloud. She turned to Josh. "He can use telepathy now. He doesn't want you to think he's using you."
Josh grinned, his teeth golden and bright. "If he's a telepath, then he knows exactly what I've been thinking." He took a deep breath and searched Julian's eyes.
'I know you are capable of great and miraculous things,' Julian said in Josh's mind.
Josh blinked in surprise and then whistled. "Wow, things do change." Josh closed his golden hand around Julian's right forearm and the metal prosthetic fell away.
The pain was unimaginable. The original injury had happened so quickly and the nerves had been seared off. Right now, under Elixir's healing touch, every nerve within Julian's arm was on fire. It felt like a bolt of lightning zipped down from his brain to phantom fingertips. The walls began to glow green and shake from his telekinetic power. Julian began to cry out, his screams muffled by the leather belt in his mouth. His right lower arm and hand began to grow until it was fully formed. Julian's forehead was beaded in a fine, sheen of sweat. His heart hammered in his chest.
"And now for the left," Josh mumbled. He took hold of Julian's left forearm and repeated the process. It took all of Hellion's willpower not to pass out. After his hands had both been re-grown, Elixir rocked back on his heels. "Still want me on your team after that?"
Julian turned his hands so that he could examine his palms, his knuckles, the veins across the back of his hands. They were as he remembered, the same vascular pattern across his hands as he remembered. He flexed his hands into fists and then uncurled them. He snapped his middle fingers and thumbs together and laughed. "Oh hell yes, I want you on my team."
"There are others on this team of ours. They are in Madripoor as well. You remember Warpath," Laura said.
"Yes, of course. James is a reliable teammate," Josh said. He braced his hands upon his knees and stood up, his stiff lower back cracking in the process.
"Also a new mutant by the name of Clarice, or Blink," Laura said. "She is James' girlfriend."
"And a telepath from the Thieves Guild, Anja," Gambit added. "Though, her part in this ends when we return to the states."
"Were all the Phoenix Five broken as Magneto?" Josh asked. He stared down at his black and golden hands. "I could restore them."
"Things are a bit different since you've been away," Julian explained. He took a deep breath and sent a series of images into Josh's mind. He showed Cyclops killing Xavier. Wolverine establishing the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The body bag containing Rogue's body and Gambit's grief. Wolverine's rapidly aging process.
Josh sighed. "I suppose I can't stay locked away in solitude forever. Sounds like mutant-kind needs me."
Laura reached for Josh and pulled him down towards the futon. His weight fell against her and Julian and she wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. Julian offered a half hug with his newly re-created left arm and hand while his right arm was stuck between Laura and Josh's weight. "Sometimes, we just need a hug from our friends to remember what's important."
Josh returned the hug and then sat on Laura's other side on the futon. "So, I can probably heal Rogue's body. It might take some time, but I should be capable. But, I cannot restore a soul. How do you intend to retrieve it? And we'll have to put her healed body on life support. Without her spirit she'll be an empty vessel."
Laura laid her hand over her chest. "Sinister will supply us with the technology to keep her body in stasis after its restoration. I have a pact with Mephisto and Warpath's new girlfriend can teleport."
"If Blink works similar to Nightcrawler or Magik, then she'll use the Hell dimension," Gambit said. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. The tension in his muscles drained out as he began to feel hopeful once more.
"Are you reforming X-force, Laura? It seems that way," Josh said, his lips thinned thoughtfully. "Count me in. I'm not sure if I'll find Laurie or not, I'm sure it's a big place — the underworld. But I cannot sit back and let the world keep moving on without me. I loved Laurie, but even she wouldn't want me to wallow in self-pity forever."
"Well, not that this isn't a lovely apartment," Gambit said pushing away from the wall. "But, I say we meet the others in a nice hotel at the Thieves Guild expense and head out in the morning."
"I'm not planning to argue with that idea," Julian said with a grin.
A/N: Not sure how I feel about X-23 hooking up with Angel in the All New Xmen issue 30…stop breaking my heart Bendis! I take it back, I know how I feel. Disappointed!